Cities can help in fighting back global warming by soaking up the principal greenhouse gas- CO2, a fresh study by British scientists revealed.

Scientists surveyed the central English city of Leicester, which has a population of around 300,000 living in an area of 73 sq. km.

They measured the carbon-absorbing capacity of the city’s vegetation. They included parks, golf courses, school playing fields, domestic gardens, abandoned industrial land, river banks and verges of roads in their study.

The study showed that 231,000 tonnes of carbon were as locked up in the city’s above-ground vegetation. The figure was 10 times more than previously estimated. It is more or less equal to the average annual carbon emissions by more than 150,000 sedan cars.

Researcher Zoe Davies of the University of Kent, southeast England, said that the study illustrated that the cities too are carbon sinks.

Mr. Davies suggested that more tree should be planted in urban areas, and they die they should be replaced.

Speaking on the topic, Davies said, "If more trees are planted in urban areas for their carbon storage value, they must be the right kind of tree planted in the right place so that they have a long, productive lifespan, and when trees die they should be replaced."

The study could be of great help to the UK Government which has an aim to hack greenhouse emissions by 80 per cent, by the year of 2050 (from 1990 levels).