Asthma, Rhinitis, Other Respiratory DiseasesCities as harbingers of climate change: Common ragweed, urbanization, and public health☆,☆☆
Section snippets
Ragweed establishment
Beginning in April 2000, a transect involving rural (Buckeystown), semirural (Carrie Murray Nature Center), suburban (Towson University), and urban (Baltimore Science Center) locations was established within Maryland. Seed (A artemisiifolia ) was obtained from Valley Seed Company (Fresno, Calif) from a common seed lot of ragweed. All seeds were mixed and distributed randomly into a common soil type at monitoring sites along the transect. The common soil is classified as a Cordurus silt-loam
Urbanization-induced environmental change
Both [CO2] and ambient air temperature were related to the level of urbanization. Urbanization increased the average daily (24-hour) [CO2] by 30% and 31% in 2000 and 2001, respectively, in comparison with the farm site, the absolute CO2 values being consistent between years for each site (Table I).
Site Description [CO2] CDD (°C) Difference +Avg (°C) 2000 Organic farm Rural site—control 386 ± 19.0b 3428.4 0 Nature center
Discussion
There has been considerable speculation about the medical implications of climate change.3 Previous laboratory-based investigations suggesting greater potential for seasonal allergic rhinitis resulting from CO2 included stimulations of ragweed pollen production.8, 9 However, the applicability of these results to in situ conditions remained speculative. To reduce speculation, the current experiment sought to use urban environments as a surrogate for future climatic change to provide a realistic,
Acknowledgements
We thank the following people for invaluable services: Corrine Parks and Sue Patz, of the Baltimore Parks and Recreation Department's Carrie Murray Nature Center; Bruce Baldwin, of the Baltimore Science Center; Drs Larry Wimmers and Ralph Scott, of Towson University; Nick Maravel, of Nick's Organic Farms; Susan Gebhard, for editing; Dr Richard Sicher, of the USDA Alternate Crops and Systems Laboratory, for nitrate and nitrite analysis of rainwater; Dr Jonathan Patz, of the Johns Hopkins School
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Funding sources: Dr Ziska is funded through the Agricultural Research Service (ARS, CRIS #1270-21000-020-00D); a cooperative research agreement was established between ARS and Surveillance Date Incorporated (SDI) for determination of pollen counts and immunochemical analysis. No direct payments, stock options, patent licensing agreements or other commercial ownerships occurred between SDI and ARS.
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Reprint requests: Lewis H. Ziska, PhD, Alternate Crop and Systems Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, 10300 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville, MD 20705.