Rising CO2 levels blamed for flourishing poison ivy

Soon, everyone could be itching a little more than usual. "Climate change is making poison ivy grow faster, bigger and meaner," David Templeton reports for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette."Rising atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide and higher temperatures are to poison ivy what garbage is for rats, dormant water is for mosquitoes and road kill is to buzzards." All plants feed on carbon dioxide, and rising levels have led to reports of pie-pan sized leaves that are choking trees and filling the edge of woodlands. (Post-Gazette photo by Larry Roberts)

The amount of poison ivy has doubled since the 1960s and could double again if carbon dioxide levels continue to rise, Templeton writes. Jacqueline Mohan, an assistant professor of biology at the University of Georgia, told Templeton poison ivy can flourish by wrapping around trees and hindering tree growth while the vines take control. "It's getting happier and nastier," she said. (Read more)

Trying to avoid poison ivy isn't easy. It grows "everywhere in the U.S. except the far West, deserts and at high altitude," according to Poison-Ivy.org. The west has poison oak, which is similar to poison ivy. Both are abundant on roadsides and edges of fields. (Read more)