WEEDS FEED ON GHG SPEW

Speaking from clinical experience, there do seem to be more frequent and intense common allergy symptoms these days and, perhaps, more frequent presentations of inflammatory conditions. This information would explain a higher concentration of aggravating factors.

Weeds shown to feed on rising carbon; Poison ivy and dandelions grow bigger and stronger as levels of CO2 increase, two studies find
Jia-Rui Chong, July 18, 2007 (LA Times)

WHO
Lewis Ziska, a U.S. Department of Agriculture weed ecologist; Xianzhong Wang, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
Robust poison ivy in an ever-richer CO2 atmosphere.

WHAT
Two new research papers show increased levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions stimulate the growth of poison ivy and dandelions.

WHEN
Experimental CO2 concentrations ranged from measured 1950s and present levels to hyporthetical 2050 and 2100 levels.

WHERE
- Ziska is based in Beltsville, Md.
- Wang’s work was reported in the current issue of Weed Science

WHY
- Study 1: Poison ivy samples grown in lab conditions simulating current GHG (CO2) levels grew faster and became twice as large as those grown in conditions simulating the 1950s. More CO2, up to 400 ppm, increased other parameters.
- Study 2: Dandelions grown in hypothetical 2100 conditions grew more seeds and had greater capacity to propagate the seeds.
- In the last 200 years, CO2 levels have risen from 280 parts per million (ppm) to 380 ppm, the highest level in the last 650,000 years.
- Plants use the CO2 for photosynthesis and would be expected to thrive on higher levels. Humans – not so much.
- The poison ivy study confirms a previous Duke University study showing bigger, faster growing and more irritant-producing plants when 200 ppm of CO2 was added to their environment.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture experiment with plant growth/CO2 measurement.

QUOTES
- Jeff Dukes, ecologist, University of Massachusetts, Boston: "These papers … suggest many weedy species are going to respond strongly to elevated carbon dioxide…"
- Ziska: "The take-home message is the change in carbon dioxide that has already occurred in the 20th century was enough to significantly stimulate the growth of poison ivy, much more than originally anticipated…From what we've seen so far, all the weeds we have examined seem to respond much more to carbon dioxide than other species do…"
- Wang: "In the future, we think humans will have to spray lawns more often or they may need to increase the dosage of the herbicides to kill the dandelions…"