Rising CO2 & human nutrition
The largest study to date on the impact of rising CO2 on crop and wild plant quality was published by eLife in 2014. It is based on the published data generated by hundreds of researchers on four continents that I had compiled over 12 years. The results confirm my 2002 prediction that increasing CO2 affects the quality of human nutrition by lowering globally the concentration of essential minerals, especially iron and zinc, in crops and wild plants:
eLfe 2014 doi:10.7554/eLife.02245
More about the background story here
This 2002 study predicted the negative effects of increasing CO2 on the quality of human nutrition:
Loladze, I. (2002) Rising CO2 and human nutrition: toward globally imbalanced plant stoichiometry? Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 17, 457-461 (PDF)
Abstract. Terrestrial vascular plants obtain their major constituent – carbon (C) – from atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), but draw all other chemical elements largely from the soil. Concentrations of these elements, however, do not change in unison with steadily increasing concentrations of CO2. Thus, relative to pre-industrial times, modern plants are experiencing a global elemental imbalance. Could this imbalance affect the elemental composition of plants, the most important food source on Earth? Apart from an overall decline in nitrogen concentration, very little is known about the effects of high CO2 on other chemical elements, such as iron, iodine and zinc, which are already deficient in the diets of the half of human population. Here, I apply stoichiometric theory to argue that high CO2, as a rule, should alter the elemental composition of plants, thus affecting the quality of human nutrition. The first compilation, to my knowledge, of published data supports the claim and shows an overall the nutritional density of plants, specifically a global decline in ratio of essential elements to carbon. Therefore, high CO2 could intensify the already acute problem of micronutrient malnutrition as hypothesized back in 2002.
In 2010, at "The First Global Conference on Biofortification," I gave this invited talk:
Elevated CO2 diminishes the levels of macro- and micro-elements in crops and wild plants (2010) (PDF)
New 2014 results: Hidden shift of the ionome of plants exposed to elevated CO2 depletes minerals at the base of human nutrition eLfe 2014 doi:10.7554/eLife.02245
Examples of media coverage:
New Scientist (2002) "Plague of Plenty" by Graham Lawton
Grist (2005) "In a warmed world, even food won’t be as good for you" by Glenn Scherer
Nature (2007) "The Other Greenhouse Effect" by Ned Stafford
Rising CO2 is reducing nutritional value of food, impacting ecosystems (2016)
