Poison Ivy loves CO2

No, not this Poison Ivy, this "leaves of three, let it be"vine. Poison ivy is in peak bloom right now, although the dead ones in late autumn still have plenty of urushiol (the oil that cause skin irritant) and will cause the same itchy blistering effect. Imagine that effect (photo on the right) all over my face and legs two years ago. More than 80% of people (that's about 40-50 million in this country) are allergic to the urushiol in poison ivy. Everyone has a different sensitivity. Most people don't have a reaction the first time they touch poison ivy, but they develop an allergic reaction after repeated exposure. Two years ago, at about this time of year, I had direct contact with the plant's leaves -- at first accidentally, and I had no allergic reaction for days. So I thought I was invincible, the almighty Trynn Diesel is indestructable against urusiol. I started pulling the vines ferociously at the tree nursery like a mad woman. Well, let's just leave the little details out. It turns out I suffered from a delayed hypersensitivity, days after the exposure. The doctor gave me some medications and several tubes of topical cortizone (anti-itching cream). Despite all that blistering on my face, I managed to attend a semi-formal reception, a graduation and a local concert. I just wanted to tell my idiotic story.

At any rate, this post was supposed to be about a fascinating study done by Dr. Jacqueline Mohan and her colleagues on the fast growth effects of Toxicodendron radicans to global warming.

Global warming may spell bad times for polar bears but it seems to be a boon to poison ivy. A six-year experiment to find out how increased levels of carbon dioxide affect forests uncovered a surprising result: In the area used for the experiment, poison ivy grew like crazy. Melissa Block talks with ecologist Jacqueline Mohan is a scientist at the Ecosystems Center in Woods Hole, part of the Harvard Forest in central Massachusetts.

Listen to this NPR report. I also like the closing song by the Rolling Stones, classic!

Can you imagine my evil laughs (Bwah hah ha ha) when the vines go after the politicians who think global warming is a myth? I wish each and everyone of them could experience the agony I was in, then I can happily point and laugh and do a little "told you so" dance.