CARBON DIOXIDEand Plants

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Plants and trees get the nutrients they need by sucking up water through their roots, a process known as capillary action. But they

also get nutrients through osmosis. Osmosis is the movement of water through a

membrane from a region of higher water concentration to a region of lower water concentration. Imagine the leaves of a tree

getting wet in a rainstorm. Through osmosis, water and nutrients can pass through the

leaf walls and keep the tree healthy.

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Fill both dishes with water and about about 2 tablespoons of salt to one of the dishes.

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Cut the potato in half. Place one half on each plate, flat side down, and let soak in the water for a few hours.

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Flip over and look for differences.

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The freshwater slice is more rigid. This is because there was more salt and other dissolved chemicals within the potato than in the water in the dish, so water moved from the dish

into the potato, making it more firm.

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The saltwater potato is very soft and flexible. This is because water moves to where the higher concentrations of dissolved chemicals are. There was more salt in the dish than in the potato, so water moved

from the potato to the dish, leaving the potato soft and flexible.

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Nobel prizes on cell mechanisms1901—chemical thermodynamics and osmotic pressure

1909—electrical signals in living tissue could be caused by ion currents passing through the cell membrane

1963—discoveries concerning ion mechanisms in nerve cell membranes

1991—discoveries concerning the function of single ion channels in cells

1997—membrane protein and sodium-potassium pump

2003—discoveries concerning channels in the cell membrane

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As you read this brief text enormous numbers of ion channels are opening and closing in your brain, of the order

of 1,000,000,000,000,000(1 quadrillion). The amount of ions

moving in the channels during this time would correspond to a pinch of salt.

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Global warming is hotly debated, and whether it is true or not, we know we are living in a time in which the people of the world in general are destroying the earth.

Fossil fuels emissions are polluting the atmosphere, increasing, for example, the

level of CO2.

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What are the results of increased atmospheric CO2?

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Most likely, the worst problem with increased atmospheric CO2 would be the increase in temperature throughout Earth. This will make deserts and other types of dry land enlarge.

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New research has recently revealed that elevated CO2 levels affect our food supply.

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“Rising carbon dioxide emissions are set to make the world’s staple food

crops less nutritious, according to new scientific research, worsening the

serious ill health already suffered by billions of malnourished

people.” (Damian Carrington, The Guardian, May 7, 2014)

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“‘We found rising levels of CO2 are affecting human nutrition by reducing levels of very important nutrients in very important food crops,’ said Prof Samuel Myers, an environmental health expert at Harvard University, Boston,

and lead author of the study” (Ibid.)

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The field trials of wheat, rice, maize and soybeans showed that higher CO2 levels significantly

reduced the levels of the essential nutrients iron and zinc, as well as cutting protein levels.

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This is serious because . . .billions of people worldwide are already malnourished, and two billion people already suffer iron and zinc deficiencies,

zinc and iron are very important to health,

the anticipated increase in carbohydrate in these crops (as zinc, iron, and protein decline) could increase the rate of metabolic syndrome (diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and obesity),

eating more staple foods to meet the zinc and iron requirements is not realistic when food production must double by 2050 to meet the demands of rising populations,

and drought and famine and water resources worldwide real issues, effecting the production of food supplies.

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Myers told The Guardian: “It is very hard to predict all the challenges to

human health resulting from climate change. My guess is there will be

many more surprises as we remake the environmental conditions on the planet. As a civilisation we are now living with 400 ppm [CO2] for the

first time: it’s a new world.”Before the industrial revolution started the large-scale burning of

fossil fuels, the level of CO2 in the atmosphere was 280ppm. (Ibid.)

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