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 Poison Ivy: Getting More Poisonous!
SPoison ivy can grow just about anywhere – forest and your own backyards. People, who are allergic, develop an itchy rash and blisters from the resin of the plant. About 80 percent do have an allergic reaction to poison ivy. Scientists from the Ecosystems Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, have been conducting a six-year study on the plants and global warming and found an elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide pressure, which affects the increased growth of poison ivy. Now the plant is growing bigger, faster, and more poisonous than ever. When the plants are exposed to these increased carbon dioxide levels, they average to grow 149 percent faster than those plants in controlled environments. This is not only a problem for humans, but also for the forests. There is an increase in abundance of vines that inhibits young trees, which kill them. One of the experts believes that this is the first link to increased growth and toxicity with increasing levels of carbon dioxide. As a result, poison ivy will become more abundant and will most likely to cause worse skin reactions. Some remedies for this allergic reaction include the following: bathing in baking soda or oatmeal or applying bleach on the infected area.
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