CO2 Good – Photosynthesis Increases in CO2 content increase plant photosynthesis, decrease water loss, and increase fruit number Idso 11 (Craig Idso, former founder, president, and current chairman of Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, 6/15/11, “Estimates of Global Food Production in the Year 2050: Will We Produce Enough to Adequately Feed the World?” , page 7). The idea that an increase in the air’s CO2¶ content may be of benefit to the biosphere can be traced ¶ back in time over 200 years. As early as 1804, for example, de Saussure showed that peas exposed to ¶ ¶ high CO2¶ concentrations grew better than control plants in ambient air; and work conducted in the ¶ ¶ early 1900s significantly increased the number of species in which this growth-enhancing effect of ¶ ¶ atmospheric CO2 enrichment was observed to occur (Demoussy, 1902-1904; Cummings and Jones, ¶ 1918). In fact, by the time a group of scientists convened at Duke University in 1977 for a workshop on ¶ Anticipated Plant Responses to Global Carbon Dioxide Enrichment, an annotated bibliography of 590 ¶ ¶ scientific studies dealing with CO2 effects on vegetation had been prepared (Strain, 1978). This body of ¶ research demonstrated that increased levels of atmospheric CO2 generally produce increases in plant ¶ photosynthesis, decreases in plant water loss by transpiration, increases in leaf area, and increases in ¶ plant branch and fruit numbers, to name but a few of the most commonly reported benefits. And five ¶ years later, at the International Conference on Rising Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and Plant ¶ ¶ Productivity, it was concluded that a doubling of the air’s CO2 concentration would likely lead to a 50% ¶ increase in photosynthesis in C3 plants, a doubling of water use efficiency in both C3 and C4 plants, ¶ ¶ significant increases in biological nitrogen fixation in almost all biological systems, and an increase in ¶ ¶ the ability of plants to adapt to a variety of environmental stresses (Lemon, 1983). ¶
CO2 Good – Photosynthesis Increases in CO2 content increase plant photosynthesis, decrease water loss, and increase fruit number Idso 11 (Craig Idso, former founder, president, and current chairman of Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, 6/15/11, “Estimates of Global Food Production in the Year 2050: Will We Produce Enough to Adequately Feed the World?” , page 7). The idea that an increase in the air’s CO2¶ content may be of benefit to the biosphere ¶ can be traced back in time over 200 years. ¶ As early as 1804, for example, de Saussure ¶ showed that peas exposed to high CO2¶ concentrations grew better than control ¶ plants in ambient air; and work conducted ¶ in the early 1900s significantly increased ¶ the number of species in which this ¶ growth-enhancing effect of atmospheric ¶ CO2 enrichment was observed to occur (Demoussy, 1902-1904; Cummings and Jones, 1918). In ¶ fact, by the time a group of scientists convened at Duke University in 1977 for a workshop on ¶ Anticipated Plant Responses to Global Carbon Dioxide Enrichment, an annotated bibliography ¶ of 590 scientific studies dealing with CO2 effects on vegetation had been prepared (Strain, ¶ 1978). This body of research demonstrated that increased levels of atmospheric CO2 generally ¶ produce increases in plant photosynthesis, decreases in plant water loss by transpiration, ¶ increases in leaf area, and increases in plant branch and fruit numbers, to name but a few of ¶ the most commonly reported benefits. And five years later, at the International Conference on ¶ Rising Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and Plant ¶ Productivity, it was concluded that a doubling of the air’s ¶ CO2 concentration would likely lead to a 50% increase in ¶ photosynthesis in C3 plants, a doubling of water use ¶ efficiency in both C3 and C4 plants, significant increases ¶ in biological nitrogen fixation in almost all biological ¶ systems, and an increase in the ability of plants to adapt ¶ to a variety of environmental stresses (Lemon, 1983).
Warming_Good___GHWC___SDI_2012.docx