Posted on 08/03/2008 12:17:48 PM PDT by PROCON
A warmer planet could mean we'll suffer more (and stronger) allergies As one of 40 million Americans who suffer from hay fever, Lewis Ziska carries an inhaler in his pocket and takes a whiff to clear his lungs on bad allergy days. But hay fever is more than a personal-health issue for Ziska. A weed ecologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Crop Systems and Global Change Laboratory, Ziska is a leading researcher in the fledgling field of allergies and climate change. His findings regarding ragweed, an invasive plant whose pollen is the leading trigger of fall hay fever, are nothing to sneeze at. Global warming and increased atmospheric carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels appear to supercharge the growth of ragweed. And not only does ragweed grow larger and produce more pollen, its pollen is more allergenic, studies show.
People allergic to ragweed aren't the only ones who'll be sniffling more. Studies show that increased CO2 levels increase the level of tree pollen, a common source of allergies in springtime. There's evidence that warmer temperatures in Alaska have led to increases in yellow-jacket stings, bad news for people with bee-sting allergies. Not even your basement will be safe: fungal spores also proliferate in warmer temperatures and thrive when carbon-dioxide levels rise.
To test his ragweed hypothesis, Ziska planted the weed in three plots: a rural farm, a semi-rural county park and downtown Baltimore. The urban plot's ragweed produced four times the pollen count of the rural site. "Cities already have more carbon dioxide than rural areas and are hotter," Ziska says. "Cities are a surrogate for global warming."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
Ping!
Just amazing. The “researchers” and the media are leaving no stone unturned in their quest to convince the sheeple that “global warming” exists ... My guess is some very powerful people have a lot of money riding on convincing Americans that this hoax is real.
And Algore's "Alliance for Climate Change" or whatever it's called has commercials all over TV, even on FOX...just shameful, but you're right, the sheeple are easily led!
I guess I would be worried about this if I believed Al Bore.
Maybe I should feel sorry for the tree huggers. The “creatures” they worship would have to be unthanized.
OK, I’ll give them all a little boo hoo. Now I’ll have another cup of coffee before the bean bushes are destroyed.
Newsweek:The folks who brought you “We’re heading to a new Ice Age” back in the 70s.
A complete list of things caused by global warming
Acne, agricultural land increase, Afghan poppies destroyed, Africa devastated, Africa in conflict, African aid threatened, African summer frost, aggressive weeds, air pressure changes, Alaska reshaped, Agulhas current moves, Alps melting, Amazon a desert, American dream end, amphibians breeding earlier (or not), anaphylactic reactions to bee stings, ancient forests dramatically changed, animals head for the hills, Antarctic grass flourishes, Antarctic ice grows, Antarctic ice shrinks, Antarctic sea life at risk, anxiety treatment, algal blooms, archaeological sites threatened, Arctic bogs melt, Arctic in bloom, Arctic ice free, Arctic ice melt faster, Arctic lakes disappear, Arctic tundra to burn, Arctic warming (not), Atlantic less salty, Atlantic more salty, atmospheric circulation modified, attack of the killer jellyfish, avalanches reduced, avalanches increased, Baghdad snow, Bahrain under water, bananas grow, barbarisation, beer shortage, beetle infestation, bet for $10,000, better beer, big melt faster, billion dollar research projects, billion homeless, billions face risk, billions of deaths, bird distributions change, bird loss accelerating, bird visitors drop, birds confused, birds return early, birds driven north, bittern boom ends, blackbirds stop singing, blackbirds threatened, Black Hawk down, blue mussels return, bluetongue, brain eating amoebae, brains shrink, bridge collapse (Minneapolis), Britain Siberian, brothels struggle, brown Ireland, bubonic plague, budget increases, Buddhist temple threatened, building collapse, building season extension, bushfires, business opportunities, business risks, butterflies move north, camel deaths, cancer deaths in England, cannibalism, caterpillar biomass shift, cave paintings threatened, childhood insomnia, Cholera, circumcision in decline, cirrus disappearance, civil unrest, cloud increase, cockroach migration, coffee threatened, cold climate creatures survive, cold spells (Australia), cold wave (India), computer models, conferences, conflict, conflict with Russia, consumers foot the bill, coral bleaching, coral fish suffer, coral reefs dying, coral reefs grow, coral reefs shrink , coral reefs twilight, cost of trillions, cougar attacks, cradle of civilisation threatened, creatures move uphill, crime increase, crocodile sex, crops devastated, crumbling roads, buildings and sewage systems, curriculum change, cyclones (Australia), danger to kid's health, Darfur, Dartford Warbler plague, death rate increase (US), Dengue hemorrhagic fever, depression, desert advance, desert retreat, destruction of the environment, disappearance of coastal cities, diseases move north, Dolomites collapse, drought, ducks and geese decline, dust bowl in the corn belt, early marriages, early spring, earlier pollen season, Earth biodiversity crisis, Earth dying, Earth even hotter, Earth light dimming, Earth lopsided, Earth melting, Earth morbid fever, Earth on fast track, Earth past point of no return, Earth slowing down, Earth spins faster, Earth to explode, earth upside down, earthquakes, earthquakes redux, El Niño intensification, end of the world as we know it, erosion, emerging infections, encephalitis, English villages lost, equality threatened, Europe simultaneously baking and freezing, eutrophication, evolution accelerating, expansion of university climate groups, extinctions (human, civilisation, logic, Inuit, smallest butterfly, cod, ladybirds, pikas, polar bears, walrus, toads, plants, salmon, trout, wild flowers, woodlice, a million species, half of all animal and plant species, mountain species, not polar bears, barrier reef, leaches, tropical insects) experts muzzled, extreme changes to California, fading fall foliage, fainting, famine, farmers benefit, farmers go under, farm output boost, fashion disaster, fever,figurehead sacked, fir cone bonanza, fish bigger, fish catches drop, fish downsize, fish catches rise, fish deaf, fish get lost, fish stocks at risk, fish stocks decline, five million illnesses, flesh eating disease, flood patterns change, floods, floods of beaches and cities, flood of migrants, flood preparation for crisis, Florida economic decline, flowers in peril, food poisoning, food prices rise, food prices soar, food security threat (SA), footpath erosion, forest decline, forest expansion, frog with extra heads, frostbite, frost damage increased, frosts, fungi fruitful, fungi invasion, games change, Garden of Eden wilts, genetic diversity decline, gene pools slashed, giant oysters invade, giant pythons invade, giant squid migrate, gingerbread houses collapse, glacial earthquakes, glacial retreat, glacial growth, glacier grows (California), glacier wrapped, global cooling, global dimming, glowing clouds, golf Masters wrecked, grandstanding, grasslands wetter, Great Barrier Reef 95% dead, Great Lakes drop, great tits cope, greening of the North, Grey whales lose weight, Gulf Stream failure, habitat loss, Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, harmful algae, harvest increase, harvest shrinkage, hay fever epidemic, health affected, health of children harmed, heart disease, heart attacks and strokes (Australia), heat waves, hibernation affected, hibernation ends too soon, hibernation ends too late, HIV epidemic, homeless 50 million, hornets, high court debates, human development faces unprecedented reversal, human fertility reduced, human health risk, human race oblivion, hurricanes, hurricane reduction, hurricanes fewer, hurricanes not, hydropower problems, hyperthermia deaths, ice age, ice sheet growth, ice sheet shrinkage, illness and death, inclement weather, India drowning, infrastructure failure (Canada), industry threatened, infectious diseases, inflation in China, insect explosion, insurance premium rises, Inuit displacement, Inuit poisoned, Inuit suing, invasion of cats, invasion of herons, invasion of jellyfish, invasion of midges, island disappears, islands sinking, itchier poison ivy, jellyfish explosion, jets fall from sky, jet stream drifts north, Kew Gardens taxed, kidney stones, killer cornflakes, killing us, kitten boom, koalas under threat, krill decline, lake and stream productivity decline, lake empties, lake shrinking and growing, landslides, landslides of ice at 140 mph, lawsuits increase, lawsuit successful, lawyers' income increased (surprise surprise!), lives saved, Loch Ness monster dead, lush growth in rain forests, Malaria, mammoth dung melt, mango harvest fails, Maple production advanced, Maple syrup shortage, marine diseases, marine food chain decimated, Meaching (end of the world), Mediterranean rises, megacryometeors, Melanoma, methane emissions from plants, methane burps, methane runaway, melting permafrost, Middle Kingdom convulses, migration, migration difficult (birds), migratory birds huge losses, microbes to decompose soil carbon more rapidly, minorities hit, monkeys on the move, Mont Blanc grows, monuments imperiled, moose dying, more bad air days, more research needed, mortality increased, mountain (Everest) shrinking, mountaineers fears, mountains break up, mountains green and flowering, mountains taller, mortality lower, Myanmar cyclone, narwhals at risk, National security implications, native wildlife overwhelmed, natural disasters quadruple, new islands, next ice age, NFL threatened, Nile delta damaged, noctilucent clouds, no effect in India, Northwest Passage opened, nuclear plants bloom, oaks dying, oaks move north, ocean acidification, ocean deserts expand, ocean waves speed up, opera house to be destroyed, outdoor hockey threatened, ozone repair slowed, ozone rise, Pacific dead zone, penguin chicks frozen, personal carbon rationing, pest outbreaks, pests increase, phenology shifts, plankton blooms, plankton destabilised, plants march north, plants move uphill, polar bears aggressive, polar bears cannibalistic, polar bears drowning, polar tours scrapped, popcorn rise, porpoise astray, profits collapse, psychiatric illness, puffin decline, radars taken out, railroad tracks deformed, rainfall increase, rape wave, refugees, release of ancient frozen viruses, resorts disappear, rice threatened, rice yields crash, rift on Capitol Hill, rioting and nuclear war, river flow impacted, rivers raised, roads wear out, robins rampant, rocky peaks crack apart, roof of the world a desert, rooftop bars, Ross river disease, ruins ruined, Russia under pressure, salinity reduction, salinity increase, Salmonella, satellites accelerate, school closures, sea level rise, sea level rise faster, seals mating more, sewer bills rise, severe thunderstorms, sex change, sexual promiscuity, shark attacks, sharks booming, sharks moving north, sheep shrink, shop closures, short-nosed dogs endangered, shrinking ponds, shrinking shrine, ski resorts threatened, skin cancer, slow death, smaller brains, smog, snowfall increase, snowfall heavy, soaring food prices, societal collapse, songbirds change eating habits, sour grapes, space problem, spectacular orchids, spiders invade Scotland, squid aggressive giants, squid population explosion, squirrels reproduce earlier, stingray invasion, storms wetter, stormwater drains stressed, street crime to increase, subsidence, suicide, swordfish in the Baltic, Tabasco tragedy, taxes, tectonic plate movement, teenage drinking, terrorism, threat to peace, ticks move northward (Sweden), tides rise, tomatoes rot, tornado outbreak, tourism increase, trade barriers, trade winds weakened, traffic jams, transportation threatened, tree foliage increase (UK), tree growth slowed, trees in trouble, trees less colourful, trees more colourful, trees lush, tropics expansion, tropopause raised, truffle shortage, turtles crash, turtles lay earlier, UK coastal impact, UK Katrina, Vampire moths, Venice flooded, volcanic eruptions, walrus pups orphaned, walrus stampede, war, wars over water, wars sparked, wars threaten billions, wasps, water bills double, water scarcity (20% of increase), water stress, weather out of its mind, weather patterns awry, Western aid cancelled out, West Nile fever, whales move north, whales wiped out, wheat yields crushed in Australia, wildfires, wind shift, wind reduced, wine - harm to Australian industry, wine industry damage (California), wine industry disaster (US), wine - more English, wine - England too hot, wine -German boon, wine - no more French , wine passé (Napa), wine stronger, winters in Britain colder, winter in Britain dead, witchcraft executions, wolves eat more moose, wolves eat less, workers laid off, World at war, World bankruptcy, World in crisis, World in flames, Yellow fever.
and all on 0.006 deg C per year!
bump!
There was an article in the WSJ, couple of weeks ago, about global warming, social engineering and urban in-fill. It seems that the liberal urbanites are not all that happy with the results of the in-fill in their neighborhoods, creating the urban version of the NIMBYs. Add to that the fact that covering every square inch of urban land with concrete and multi-story buildings is creating urban hot spots, which actually have a more adverse effect on climate than suburban or rural living.
The answer to the urban NIMBY situation in Seattle seems to be to raise fees, all sorts of fees, so that the city will become to expensive for even middle class urbanites.
So it stands to reason that we should do more to eradicate noxious weeds.
I hate ragweed, fall is the most miserable time in the year for me.
How in the heck does pollen become MORE allergenic? You would think the antigen profile of the pollen itself would stay the same. Are the scientists perhaps mistaking higher pollen densities for increasing allergenicity?
And furthermore, people would be well-equipped to deal with this supposed coming menace if the envirowhackos had not succeeded in getting CFC inhalers banned.
Please see #14.
he worked for 10 years as a staff writer for The Associated Press
"It's the Emissions, Stupid" (April/May 2005), an article that highlighed strategies for combating global warming.
Let’s see...
Was the SOIL identical ?
Was the amount of sunlight received identical ?
Was the amount of water received identical ?
I’m guessing nowhere close. Apples and oranges. Not to mention, out in the country, wind blows things away far easier than on an enclosed urban plot. . .
Yeah, the hyperbole of the ecotards knows no bounds.
In support of their claim, can the ecotards demonstrate a change in the chemical structure of the organic molecule antigen of rag weed and scientifically prove that it confers greater allergenic potency (as well as prove that the structural change in question is caused by Anthropogenic CO2 Emissions ) ?
I thought not.
Lettuce see:
Control groups? Same seeds from the same source?
Rain amount? Type of watering, and times of watering?
Only three sites were used?
As you mention: Soil? Sunlight? (How much sun is it getting in the cities? Was it “burned out” being in too much sunshine?
Depth of planting? Fertilizers (gee - CO2 IS a fertilizer! Who would have thought that ALL crops are growing 17% - 28% FASTER and with heavier stems and leaves than with 30% less CO2 !!! Gee, Wow.
And this guy is on the Climate Change group of the Ragweed part of the (funding) tree. How OTHER money is going to (deliberately!) AGW-promoting groups and "scientists" who can't run a decent test?
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