Corny new method of measuring CO2 emissions

The Discovery Channel reported that scientists are using a new method to track the emissions of CO2: measure carbon deposits in corn tissue. A great thing about it is that not only is it a cheap way of measurement as well as being able to see the distribution of carbon emissions over the continent, they can also determine the source of the CO2 emissions.

This quote explains a little more:

So where plant tissues are loaded with lots of carbon-12 but little carbon-14, there is more fossil fuel burning. Likewise, where plants have the expected levels of cosmic ray and nuclear-created carbon-14, there is less fossil fuel burning diluting that global signal.

Although the method is imperfect, it may be able to shed some more light onto the subject. Back to the basics.