I selected an article titled Childhood Asthma and Anthropogenic CO₂ Emissions. The research done for this article attempted to find a link between CO₂ and childhood asthma given that the incidence of childhood asthma has paralleled with the drastic increase in carbon dioxide emissions over the last 20 years, if not longer. The Harvard Medical School and the Center for Health and the Global Environment released a report noting an increase in asthma incidence of 160% among preschool children between 1980 and 1994. Dr. Charles Keeling’s research laboratory in Hawaii conducted analysis of ancient air bubbles trapped by glaciers which revealed that CO₂ in the atmosphere varied from 200 to 300 parts per million for over 80,000 years; in 1980 the levels reached 350 ppm, and are continuously increasing. A CDC-based survey stated that the number of children under 17 years of age with asthma increased from almost 40 to 60 per 1000 individuals between 1980 and 1993.

The author used both expert knowledge and survey data in addition to other reports to gather knowledge to write his article. While the author concluded that the noted increase in asthma is partially a result of carbon dioxide emissions, he acknowledged that there are several other contributing factors all relating to climate change and carbon dioxide. One of the main contributing factors is that greater CO₂ levels in the air hastens the blooming of specific plants; a 2002 study of British plants demonstrated that earlier blooming of plants also releases pollen much earlier than normal. Pollen exposure, like CO₂ emissions, raises that number of documented asthma cases. The author noted that, “As CO₂ levels hypothetically double, the pollen season for oaks will start earlier and concentrations will be 50% higher.” This example shows that while in this case CO₂ emissions are not the primary cause, they affect certain flora that increases the number of asthma cases.

Dosanjh, Amrita. “Childhood Asthma and Anthropogenic CO₂ Emissions”. 4:103–105. 2011 Oct 10. doi: 10.2147/JAA.S24565