Fruits and Vegetables Are Literally OD’ing on Climate Change

Plants need carbon dioxide (CO2) to live. That works out really well for us humans, since our survival depends on the oxygen that they release during photosynthesis.

But plants don't just give us oxygen; they also give us an abundance of healthy food. And while it might be tempting to think that more CO2 equals more happy plants, it's not that simple.

It turns out that the huge amounts of carbon dioxide that we pump into the atmosphere with fossil fuels could be causing plants to OD on CO2. And it could have very serious implications for the precious fruits and vegetables which fuel us.

According to a new report by the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), plants are being exposed to so much CO2 that it could be making their healthy flesh significantly less nutritious. The report projects with "very likely, high confidence" that the nutritional value of agriculturally important crops like wheat and rice will "decrease as rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide continue to reduce the concentrations of protein and essential minerals in most plant species."

Lewis Ziska is a plant physiologist for the USDA and a co-author of the report's chapter dealing with CO2. "CO2 is the source of carbon for photosynthesis. The amount currently in the atmosphere is rising very, very quickly," he told MUNCHIES. "As the atmosphere becomes carbon-rich, it changes the balance between carbon and the remaining nutrients, including protein."

In other words, there is a good chance that edible plants will become more starchy in the future, while losing their other, more nutritious qualities. For Irakli Loladze, associate professor at the Bryan College of Health Sciences and contributing author to the USGCRP report, the implications for our food intake should be a source of concern.

"Rising CO2 increases the production of starch and sugars in plants like wheat, rice, potatoes, and most fruits and vegetables," he says. "But the levels of essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and zinc decline. Rising CO2 significantly increases the ratios of carbohydrate-to-protein and carbohydrate-to-minerals."

But higher crop yields are hardly a silver lining. "While rising CO2 usually increases crop yields, it robs us of essential minerals," Loladze says. "We trade quality for quantity. That's not a good bargain, particularly, for the Western world that already consumes calorie-dense but nutrient-poor foods in excess."

Or, more simply put, Loladze says it's like "sprinkling every bite of plant foods with starch and sugars… for your entire life!"