Increased CO2 will cause Asthma Attacks in kids, really?

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Right after President Trump announced that he was pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Change Accord; former Secretary of State John Kerry made a number of claims that the world was going to come to an end because he pulled the U.S. out (see the video below). One of the more mundane claims was that more children are going to have asthma. My reaction was, how in the world is more CO₂ going to affect asthma in children? The level of CO₂ in a person’s lungs is, as they get ready to exhale, many times the level in the atmosphere (This is why you exhale). So this article focuses on how a relatively small change in the atmospheric CO₂ levels could cause asthma in children.

The Discussion

Secretary Kerry’s comments made no sense from a scientific point of view. Our lungs are the result of millions of year’s evolution and are well suited to exchange Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide efficiently and one would think without issue. So, how could a tiny change in CO₂ levels in the atmosphere cause asthma in children? The answer is, it can’t. John Kerry isn’t a stupid man, so what went into this statement?

It appears that former Secretary of State Kerry was using conflation to confuse CO₂ emissions with truly harmful pollution that on the face of it, could be causing the asthma attacks. On January 10, 2017 former Secretary of State Kerry spoke on the Foreign Policy challenges facing the incoming Trump Administration. During the presentation, the topic of asthma and environmental concerns was raised and here is what he said:

^{“All most unanimously scientist agree that humans are causing climate change. We spend 55 billion dollars every year to cope with acute asthma which comes from air-quality from coal fired and fossil fuel fired power plants. From a health point of view, from a national security point of view, from an environmental point of view, from every bit of science that’s coming at us, we need to deal with climate change again, i don’t think that in the end people are going to move away from that because it’s real and the rest of the world is moving towards it.”}

So, what is really happening is that former Secretary of State Kerry is conflating Carbon Dioxide, as a greenhouse gas, with all other forms of pollution that cause air quality issues. So, he knows that CO₂ levels don’t cause asthma but by conflating these issues he can confuse many in the audience and give them one more reason to reduce their carbon foot print.

There is one point that hasn’t been made so far, other forms of pollution have largely been stopped in the US and in the west in general; the atmosphere has been getting cleaner over the last several decades but these acute asthma attacks have been going up. This shows a negative collaboration with pollution? Let’s look at some science and see if there is some other potential cause for the asthma attacks.

The Science

First, more carbon dioxide in the lungs helps reduce symptoms and healthier lung function according to a study by the Southern Methodist University. The study says:

Asthma patients taught to habitually resist the urge to take deep breaths when experiencing symptoms were rewarded with fewer symptoms and healthier lung function, according to a new study from Southern Methodist University, Dallas.

So, this is settled science, more CO₂ in your lungs is good for you (sarcasm).

But back to the point, why is it that asthma attacks are increasing in frequency? Anyone that paid attention in High School Biology knows that all animals breath-in Oxygen rich air and exhale air rich in CO₂. The CO₂ is removed from the atmosphere and replaced with O₂ by plants through photosynthesis. So plants like CO₂, it is actually plant food. As the CO₂ levels have risen, it appears that the pollen levels have also risen.

So, is it possible that the plants are reacting to the CO₂ and the longer growing periods by producing more pollen? In an Apr 29, 2004 article in WebMD: High Carbon Dioxide Levels May Up Asthma Rate the author, based on a Harvard Medical School report, that pollen levels are rising and that this is responsible for the increasing asthma rates. Reports have continued to identify pollen from over sexed plants as a likely culprit in the rise of asthma. As late as 2013, Think-Progress presented an article – As CO₂ Emissions Rise, So Will Pollen Counts and Asthma Attacks – that states that Rag Weed seems to just love the new normal, more CO₂ and a longer growing period and is producing record pollen counts. Many other plants seem to be reacting the same way.

Summary

While one can’t say for sure why Secretary Kerry seems to have ignored the science but we can make some guesses:

He just didn’t know about these studies – It took me all of 10 minutes with google to find them, but he might not have time to look.
He thought he knew, so he didn’t look; or
This answer didn’t fit his world view so he dismissed them out of confirmation bias; he wanted the coal industry to be the culprit so he could push for more regulation of an industry that he despises.

Whatever the reason Secretary Kerry seems to be looking in the wrong place for a villain.

The final point is this, we need plants to survive. If we get more growth from plants because of longer growing seasons and more CO₂, then that is a good thing. Every year we have to feed more people, having a better environment for our plants will help provide for this new population in the future. So there are good things that come from Climate Change and we should understand those as well as the potentially bad things so we can make decisions based on all of the evidence.