Is CO2 plant food?

David Lobell gives me the answer

I read on Twitter that “CO2 is plant food.” That didn’t seem right, so I asked David Lobell, one of the world’s experts on climate change and agriculture. He’s a professor at Stanford, a MacArthur genius grant recipient, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and an all-around good guy.

Here’s what he said:

The bottom line:

Me: So are you worried about the climate impacts on agriculture?

David Lobell: Yes. I think the evidence is very clear that, on net, the changes going on in the atmosphere, including all the climate changes, are a risk to a lot of major production systems and to a lot of food insecure areas. So there's definitely a reason that we that we continue to work on how to adapt to these changes.

So next time someone says “CO2 is plant food,” please send them this post.