Month: September 2022

ELEPHANTS AND ROOMS. “To say that it’s little known that key crops are getting less nutritious due to rising CO2 is an understatement. It is simply not discussed in the agriculture, public health or nutrition communities. At all.” https://lnkd.in/eq-SAGC View in LinkedIn

THE POPULATION EXPERIMENT. “We don't know what a minor shift in the carbohydrate ratio in the diet is ultimately going to do.” https://lnkd.in/eq-SAGC View in LinkedIn

EMPTY CALORIES. "It's a hidden issue. The fact that my bread doesn't have the micronutrients it did 20 years ago―how would you know?" https://lnkd.in/eq-SAGC View in LinkedIn

NUTRIENT DILUTION. “Within the category of plants known as “C3”―which includes approximately 95 percent of plant species on earth, including ones we eat like wheat, rice, barley and potatoes―elevated CO2 has been shown to drive down important minerals like calcium, potassium, zinc and iron.” https://lnkd.in/eq-SAGC View in LinkedIn

DROP IN GOODIES. “The data we have, which look at how plants would respond to the kind of CO2 concentrations we may see in our lifetimes, show these important minerals drop by 8 percent, on average. The same conditions have been shown to drive down the protein content of C3 crops, in some cases significantly, with wheat and rice dropping 6 percent and 8 percent, respectively.” https://lnkd.in/eq-SAGC View in LinkedIn

THE NEXT GENERATION. “Plants are a crucial source of protein for people in the developing world, and by 2050, they estimate, 150 million people could be put at risk of protein deficiency, particularly in countries like India and Bangladesh. Researchers found a loss of zinc, which is particularly essential for maternal and infant health, could put 138 million people at risk.” https://lnkd.in/eq-SAGC View in LinkedIn

PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE. “They also estimated that more than 1 billion mothers and 354 million children live in countries where dietary iron is projected to drop significantly, which could exacerbate the already widespread public health problem of anemia.” https://lnkd.in/eq-SAGC View in LinkedIn

TRACKING CO2. “The protein content of goldenrod pollen has declined by a third since the industrial revolution—and the change closely tracks with the rise in CO2.” https://lnkd.in/eq-SAGC View in LinkedIn

GREEN JUNK FOOD. “Across nearly 130 varieties of plants and more than 15,000 samples collected from experiments over the past three decades, the overall concentration of minerals like calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc and iron had dropped by 8 percent on average. The ratio of carbohydrates to minerals was going up. The plants, like the algae, were becoming junk food.” https://lnkd.in/eq-SAGC View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this story about the shift in micronutrients and nutrition in plants, caused by increased greenhouse gases, with likely public health consequences globally. Add to this the negative impact on the plant microbiome of weedkillers and fertilizers, on whose symbiosis plants rely, and on soil depletion globally, and we have a bleak picture. With this knowledge, it is possible to start the long process to remedy food chain security. View in LinkedIn