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Greenhouse planet : how rising CO2 changes plants and life as we know it / Lewis H. Ziska.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Columbia University Press, 2022Description: 221 pages : illustrations ; 23 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 0231206704
  • 9780231206709
Subject(s):
Contents:
Plants are important : the part about food -- Plants are important : the part about drugs -- Plants are important : the part about religion -- Plants are important : the part about weeds -- Plants are important : the part about art -- and allergies -- Science is fundamental -- CO2 is plant food : the good -- CO2 is plant food : the bad -- The OMG -- More questions than answers -- The ten-ton T-Rex in the hall closet -- Wait, what? -- Cracks in the system -- Science says -- CO2 is plant food : the last bit -- A personal note.
Summary: ""CO2 is plant food" is a longtime conservative talking point. It's a tricky one because it's not exactly a lie. CO2 is plant food. But it's more complicated than that. In this book, prominent plant biologist and climate scientist Lewis Ziska explains the complex, mixed results we get when CO2 in the atmosphere increases. Many crop plants, like rices that much of the world depends on as a staple food, do grow more abundantly under these conditions, but they also become less nutritious. And it turns out that weeds fare even better than other kinds of plants--they flourish and become harder to control. There are many examples like this. Ziska first describes the importance of plants for food, medicine, and culture with the fascination and reverence of someone who has been studying them for decades. Then, he explains the science of what happens to various kinds of plants when atmospheric CO2 increases (as it currently is). He takes on the "CO2 is plant food" talking point throughout, and especially in the final section of the book, where he reveals the detrimental effects that politics (including funding decisions) have on scientific research"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Shelving location Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction Adult Display - Second Floor 581.7 Z81 Spring Plant Swap - May 2024 Available 33111010895130
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The carbon dioxide that industrial civilization spews into the atmosphere has dramatic consequences for life on Earth that extend beyond climate change. CO2 levels directly affect plant growth, in turn affecting any kind of life that depends on plants--in other words, everything.

Greenhouse Planet reveals the stakes of increased CO2 for plants, people, and ecosystems--from crop yields to seasonal allergies and from wildfires to biodiversity. The veteran plant biologist Lewis H. Ziska describes the importance of plants for food, medicine, and culture and explores the complex ways higher CO2 concentrations alter the systems on which humanity relies. He explains the science of how increased CO2 affects various plant species and addresses the politicization and disinformation surrounding these facts.

Ziska confronts the claim that "CO2 is plant food," a longtime conservative talking point. While not exactly false, it is deeply misleading. CO2 doesn't just make "good" plants grow; it makes all plants grow. It makes poison ivy more poisonous, kudzu more prolific, cheatgrass more flammable. CO2 stimulates some species more than others: weeds fare particularly well and become harder to control. Many crops grow more abundantly but also become less nutritious. And the further effects of climate change will be formidable.

Detailing essential science with wit and panache, Greenhouse Planet is an indispensable book for all readers interested in the ripple effects of increasing CO2.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Plants are important : the part about food -- Plants are important : the part about drugs -- Plants are important : the part about religion -- Plants are important : the part about weeds -- Plants are important : the part about art -- and allergies -- Science is fundamental -- CO2 is plant food : the good -- CO2 is plant food : the bad -- The OMG -- More questions than answers -- The ten-ton T-Rex in the hall closet -- Wait, what? -- Cracks in the system -- Science says -- CO2 is plant food : the last bit -- A personal note.

""CO2 is plant food" is a longtime conservative talking point. It's a tricky one because it's not exactly a lie. CO2 is plant food. But it's more complicated than that. In this book, prominent plant biologist and climate scientist Lewis Ziska explains the complex, mixed results we get when CO2 in the atmosphere increases. Many crop plants, like rices that much of the world depends on as a staple food, do grow more abundantly under these conditions, but they also become less nutritious. And it turns out that weeds fare even better than other kinds of plants--they flourish and become harder to control. There are many examples like this. Ziska first describes the importance of plants for food, medicine, and culture with the fascination and reverence of someone who has been studying them for decades. Then, he explains the science of what happens to various kinds of plants when atmospheric CO2 increases (as it currently is). He takes on the "CO2 is plant food" talking point throughout, and especially in the final section of the book, where he reveals the detrimental effects that politics (including funding decisions) have on scientific research"-- Provided by publisher.

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