When: Wednesday, May 1, 2019, 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Where: SVC-202 (Capitol Visitor Center – https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/plan-visit/us-capitol-map)

Who: The speaker will be Dr. Craig Idso, agronomist and climatologist, and principal researcher for this CO2 Coalition White Paper. The moderator will be Dr. Caleb Rossiter, climate statistician, and executive director of the CO2 Coalition.

Reservations: The Capitol Visitor Center requires that anyone without a Congressional ID must reserve a place by Monday morning, April 30. To reserve a seat, please email info@co2coalition.org 

Food security is one of the most pressing problems facing us today. Advances in farm technology and know-how will continue to increase production, but it will still be a challenge to feed the world’s growing population, especially as diets improve with rising income. Fortunately, carbon dioxide (CO2), a non-polluting, non-toxic gas that is created when fossil fuels are converted into energy, is a powerful plant food.

The CO2 added to the air has already “greened” the planet: since 1900, it has increased crop production on the order of 15 to 30 percent, and satellite imagery shows that deserts are even shrinking in places as new plants encroach on their edges. Enhancements in CO2 will help lift hundreds of millions of people out of hunger and malnutrition. The analysis of the latest research in What Rising CO2 Means for Global Food Security shows that this effect will only improve as carbon dioxide continues to rise from four one-hundredths of one percent of the atmosphere today to, perhaps, six one-hundredths of one percent in 50 years.