[aerohead]

From: 'Will Plants Profit From High CO2?',by Elizabeth Culotta,Science,VOL.268.5 May 1995,pp.654-6
*CO2 is an aerial fertilizer
*in experimental,single-variable,CO2 enrichment,the higher concentration 'may' help many crops grow faster,increase yields.
*in 'natural ecosystems',the effects are less clear.
*hundreds of questions about what happens to the rest of the forest,soil microbes to poison ivy.
*CO2 can affect virtually every aspect of the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems-from flowering times to microbial activity,species diversity.
*not all plants react the same way:with either a C3 or C4 carbon pathway.
*without added water,light,pest control,fertilizer,CO2 doesn't necessarily help plant growth.
*CO2's affect on insects,weeds,livestock unpredictable.
*High CO2 can mean low nitrogen leaf area,less protein for livestock
*High CO2 doesn't guarantee good biodiversity.
*Plants in natural ecosystems don't always respond to high CO2 the way crops do.
*Photosynthesis levels off over time.
*tundra returns to pre-CO2 level growth after 6-weeks.
*trees level off after 6-weeks
*during wet years prairie grass grows no better.
*in the past 100-years up to 10% of increased crop yields have come from higher CO2 rather than new crop varieties,fertilizers and insecticides.
*CO2 long term,less nitrogen in leaf litter = less available nitrogen to plant
*estimated global response to a 2X increase in CO2 = 10-20% growth increase.
*Plants will not be able to balance the carbon budget.
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Also,
from:'A Clearer View of Why Plants Make Haze,' by Christine Mlot,plant biologist,Science,VOL.268,5 May 1995,pp.641-42.
*Heat increases the production of bio-hydrocarbon VOCs,mostly Isoprene,which when combined with BBQ/tailpipe emissions of Nitrogen Oxides,create ground level ozone (NOx) in the presence of sunlight,which destroy pulmonary tissue for those breathing it, and create nitric acid vapor at the water's surface of lakes.
*The warmer it gets,the more plants produce it,as they attempt to protect their host chlorophyll,which without isoprene gives out at 37-degrees C.