Purpose of the articles posted in the blog is to share knowledge and occurring events for ecology and biodiversity conservation and protection whereas biology will be human’s security. Remember, these are meant to be conversation starters, not mere broadcasts :) so I kindly request and would vastly prefer that you share your comments and thoughts on the blog-version of this Focus on Arts and Ecology (all its past + present + future).
SDG Warrior, World Citizen, Capitalist Hippie, Citizen Journalist, Polyglot, Traveler, Storyteller, Tree Hugger & Food Lover
Last July, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere was 408 ppm. In the last 400 million years, a CO2 concentration 300 ppm was considered high. Therefore the high concentration of CO2 we are experiencing now was never reached in the last half billion year. This increase will for sure have an impact on how plants will be growing in the next decades.
Plants are actually happy to have more CO2 available in the atmosphere, more CO2 means more food. CO2 is the basic components of plants and it is actually the base for all biological molecules. Through photosynthesis, plants are able to catch the carbon from the CO2 and put it into chains of carbon also known as carbohydrates or sugar.
The rise of CO2 is expected to increase the rate of photosynthesis and therefore improve global vegetation growth. This greening of the Earth could potentially mitigate climate change by taking carbon out of the atmosphere and store it into trees. Various models have predicted the Earth to become more green in cold areas especially in high mountainous regions. However, even if CO2 is more abundant for plants to grow, water scarcity and soil nutrient deficiency can limit plant growth.
Climate change has other components which may impair plant growth in the future. The global warming coming with the rising CO2 level will reduce the growth of plants.
The enzyme enabling plants to input carbon from the CO2 into carbon chains is called RubisCO. This enzyme becomes less efficient under high temperature because it fixes oxygen instead of carbon. Then the plant starts to do photorespiration which is completely useless for carbon fixation. It’s a kind of enzyme procrastination which wastes energy and decreases sugar synthesis. Global warming and photorespiration can seriously diminish the capacity of plants to store carbon and mitigate climate change.
It is still unknown which factor will have the most importance in Earth greening processes: are plants going to grow faster and fix more carbon, or are they going to slow down growth because of global warming?
Another consequence of the CO2 rise is the alteration of the food we grow. Under a CO2 enriched atmosphere, the plant has an easier access to carbon than nitrogen therefore it stores more carbon as starch and sugars. For this reason, the food will be richer in energy but poorer in micronutrients.
In an article published in Nature in 2014, Samuel Myers and his team warned about the decrease of micronutrients in common staple crops cultivated under a CO2 enriched atmosphere. He reported that wheat, rice, soybean and peas grown under such conditions have lower level of iron and zinc. These two minerals are already often deficient in our diet and a further decrease could really threaten the health of million of people especially in poor neighbourhoods. Iron deficiency creates anemia while zinc deficiency impairs the immune system. Today, many other studies have been published warning about the decrease in vitamins and minerals of the crops grown under CO2 enriched atmosphere.
The best scenario for humankind would be to cut on greenhouse gas emissions and pray for the climate change mechanism we have set in motion to slow down. People would have to stop consuming useless goods and wasting food or energy. Business would have to harvest natural resources and make goods sustainably. I don’t believe we will be able to do this in time. Too many people want a car and the last released smartphone or laptop. Too many businesses are focused on making the maximum monetary profit without caring much on their environmental and social impact. Some organizations are questioning the current consumerist system, movements like freeganismand the degrowth movement look promising, however they still gather a minority of people.
Billions of chinese and indians want to enjoy the market economy, buy various goods and get out of poverty. Million people in developed countries have a large environmental footprint and are not ready to leave their comfort to reduce it.
I guess businesses will continue as usual and CO2 level in the atmosphere will continue to rise and amplify climate change disastrous effects. People from poor remote places will probably suffer from sea rise and meteorological extreme events. I also guess that rich people will be able to avoid the consequences of climate change. They will buy nutrient rich food, get an air conditioned house at the top of a hill and enjoy life while watching the news on TV. A bright future isn’t it? I mean if you can afford it.
Đăng nhận xét