From GMPRO - "Global warming may generate weeds"

GMPRO GreEn-MAIL - 04-01-08: "Global warming may generate weeds"

"A major characteristic of global warming is an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Rising carbon dioxide levels have been shown to help vegetable and grain crops grow more quickly, become more drought-resistant and produce potentially higher yields. Rising carbon dioxide is also having an impact on the growth of weeds. A study by USDA's ARS plant physiologist Lewis Ziska showed that weeds grown under warmer urban conditions and more carbon dioxide grew 4 times taller than those in a rural plot 40 miles outside city conditions. Common ragweed plants exposed to higher levels of carbon dioxide dramatically increased the amount of pollen produced. Additional work by Ziska suggests that increases in carbon dioxide may have led to bigger poison ivy plants with a more virulent form of the oil that causes people to break out."

Publications from 2007:

• Empirical selection of cultivated oat in response to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide
• Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide and potential impacts on the growth and toxicity of poison ivy
• Predicting the impact of changing CO2 on crop yields: some thoughts on food.
• Establishment and persistence of common ragweed in disturbed soil as a function of an urban rural macro environment