Homely Scientist

Ah poison ivy (Rhus toxicodendron).  The scourge of many a camping trip and yard clean up.  Yeah, well it’s gonna get worse.  Lots worse.  Folks at Duke University ( I probably know them) put good old Rhus under increased CO2 conditions and found that not only did the little buggers grow better (this would be expected, but 150x better … okay that’s a problem) but they produced more and more potent levels of the chemical that people are allergic to.  Meaning … bigger, stronger poison ivy that will make you itch even more.

Here’s a nice bit from Discovery.ca (also found on News.com):

The study took place in North Carolina and involved blowing either normal air on the plants, or air with higher levels of CO2. Compared to plants grown in the usual atmospheric conditions, the test plants were three times the size and produced a more poisonous form of the itch-causing chemical.
Besides the rash, the super-ivy has the potential to choke-off growth in forests by blanketing the forest floor and stealing vital nutrients from trees.

I’ve been to the outdoor facility in the NC woods and it’s a freaky scene man.  Lots of circular clear plastic structures with giant fans and big, big bottles of CO2 around.  Not only are there tents there … they do these experiments on full sized trees!  They pump CO2 out below the tree to give a localized increase in CO2.  Yikes!

Regardless, this might be strange news, but it does illustrate that the issues with increased CO2 in the atmosphere isn’t going to be just hotter summers.

Tags: greenhouse effect

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