Greenhouse Planet by Lewis H. Ziska

Author:Lewis H. Ziska
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: SCI092000, Science/Global Warming & Climate Change, NAT026000, Nature/Plants/General
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2022-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

Food Allergies

As mentioned, legumes, plants that fix their own nitrogen, are less likely to be impacted by rising CO2. But here, too, there are questions: Are certain proteins more sensitive to rising CO2 than others? If so, what are the consequences for human health?

Data presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting suggest that peanut allergy in children has increased 21 percent since 2010 and that nearly 2.5 percent of U.S. children may have an allergy to peanuts.24 The threat of such allergies has resulted in the removal of peanuts as snacks on airplanes and elementary schools.

Do peanuts respond to CO2? Yes, just like wheat, rice, soybean, cowpea, yada, yada. Growth and seed yield show a positive response. As other studies have found, there appears to be variation among peanut varieties in their response to more CO2.25 For example, in a field study my colleagues and I did, we observed that more CO2 (about 250 ppm more) resulted in a greater stimulation of seed yield in Virginia Jumbo relative to Georgia Green.26 So here again is a potential opportunity to select for CO2 responsiveness, this time in peanut lines. But there is a catch. (Big surprise, huh?)

The stimulation of Virginia Jumbo was simultaneous with an increase in the concentration of a protein called Ara h1. This protein, unfortunately, is the allergen that causes peanut allergies. Increases in CO2 may open an entire Pandora’s box of food allergies. But at present, it is a box whose contents are still murky. Obviously, if more CO2 can alter the concentration of plant proteins associated with food allergies, that will have a significant impact on associated allergic diseases and pose a potential threat to human health. How much of a threat remains to be determined. But no one wants to die from anaphylactic shock.

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