All Your Green Blog

Here's a bit of depressing science I've seen on a few different news outlets. National Geographic describes how the delicate compounds that make up the scent of spring flowers bonds quickly to ground-level ozone. As ozone is a major component of smog and air pollution, this is basically saying that humans are directly responsible for the destruction of one of the most beautiful things in nature. Stop and smell the roses? No, sir!

Now, as bad as not being able to smell flowers would be for us, it's worse for the flowers. Flowers use the scent to attract pollinators. These are the bees and other insects that go from flower to flower, ensuring that the flower's very species continues. Although some flowers rely on color to attract pollinators (and many have patterns only visible in ultra-violet), any species that relies even partially on their scent will be at a competitive disadvantage. This means that a slightly smaller number of them will reproduce each season, and other competing species will move into the niche. We're looking at a very real possibility of flowers like roses becoming rare and difficult to grow in places where humans have contributed significantly the ground-level ozone concentration. Recall, however, that small decorative bushes aren't the only plant that uses flowers to reproduce. Citrus trees are a perfect example of a plant whose sweet-smelling blossoms are going to be hard hit by this trend. Wild trees and other vegetation are also going to be hard-hit.

This could be a very serious blow to the future of the biodiversity around us. Our cars and power plants are not only causing serious damage to our atmosphere, but also directly interfering with the reproduction of an inconceivably large number of plants. It's hard to over-state how terrifying this is, and I'm shocked how little press it's receiving.