EFFECTS OF INCREASED LEVELS OF CARBON DIOXIDE
by Anton Antonio
June 22, 2015
There are several effects of increased levels of carbon
dioxide the most pronounced of which are chronic health diseases, global
warming and climate change. I guess
these are just the common effects of carbon dioxide level increase and the
visible tip of the iceberg so to speak.
There are other less noticed and known impacts though.
Here is another worrisome effect that was just discovered lately
by researchers from the University of Gothenburg in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was discovered that increased carbon
dioxide levels in the air restricts plants’ ability to absorb nutrients. This undermines the growth and reproductive
capability of flora, seriously affects the balance of nature, and endangers
food security.
The result of the research was published in the journal
Global Change Biology. The rapidly
rising levels of carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere affect plants’
ability to absorb nitrogen, which is the nutrient that restricts crop growth in
most terrestrial ecosystems. The
researchers at the University of Gothenburg revealed that the concentration of
nitrogen in plants’ tissue is lower in air with high levels of carbon dioxide.
When carbon dioxide levels in the air increases, crops will
have reduced nitrogen content, and therefore, reduced protein levels. The study focused specifically on rice and
wheat which are the two most important crops in the world. The reduced quality of these two staple crops
will have a profound effect on the health of people worldwide. Continuous increase in carbon dioxide level
will eventually lead to deteriorated animal species, including humans who
depend on plants and animals for nutrition.
Even a basic knowledge of the effects of carbon dioxide to
the environment is good enough reason to be worried. This new discovery should make us feel even
more worried since it would ultimately impact on us, humans of the present as
well as the future. Positive world action
should really be taken to combat increased carbon dioxide level.
Just my
little thoughts…
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REFERENCE:
Zhaozhong
Feng, Tobias Rutting, Hakan Pleijel, Goran Wallin, Peter B. Reich, Claudia I.
Kammann, Paul C.D. Newton, Kazuhiko Kobayashi, Yunjian Luo, Johan Udding,
(2015). “Constraints to Nitrogen
Acquisition of Terrestrial Under Elevated Co2”.
Global Change Biology
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