I do not believe anyone would deny that mankind has caused an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Whether you believe in global warming or not there is an unintended consequence caused by the increase in the carbon dioxide ... bigger and meaner poison ivy.
This has to do with increased carbon dioside, not global warming. There is no question it is mankind who has put the extra carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. There will be other unintended consequences that will be discovered in the future.
There are always unintended consequences in whatever we humans do.
Now I may be wrong here, but I seem to remember something about plants (in general) thriving in a carbon dioxide-rich environment. Plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen as part of photosynthesis.
So if plants flourish from the extra carbon dioxide, they will release more oxygen and lower the levels of carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere.
Therefore, as long as humankind doesn't destroy our vegetation, then our plants and trees will help regulate carbon dioxide levels.
It aggravates me to see science hijacked the way it is so often today.
Science is supposed to be based on facts gained through observation and testing. When I read that article I didn't see many scientific facts, I saw a lot of supposition instead, which is what many wrongly call science today. It can cause this, this may become more potent, etc. That's not science. Here's science: if I hold up a basketball and drop it, gravity will pull that basketball toward the ground at an acceleration of 9.81 meters per square second. Those are facts reached by observation and testing of the surrounding world.
Well, let's all pick numbers. If odd, we live; if even, we kill ourselves for the sake of poison ivy.
While I hate an outbreak of poison ivy-- and I have had quite a few-- I no longer try to get rid of the abundance of the plant that lines my back fences. I now regard it as an extra defense for anyone who may try to invade my property from the field behind it. If they recognize what it is, they will avoid it; if they don't recognize it, and try climbing over it, they will get their just deserts...unless they are that rare individual who is not allergic to the stuff.