Poison Ivy: Climate Change & Skin Rash Threat

0:00Poison ivy season is hit North Carolina heart, folks, and is that classic three-leaf cluster you got to watch for. The middle ones a bit longer, shiny green turning red in fall. It grows as a shrub or vine-climbing trees up to 150 feet with those sneaky aerial roots. Beyond Poison ivy, you got poison oak looking like a low shrub with oak-shaped leaves and threes, and poison sumac with 7 to 13 dark green. Leaflets on a small tree or bush, all pack uruchio oil that triggers nasty skin rashes from direct touch, pets carrying it, or even smoke. Most folks build sensitivity over time, so exposure means quick action-long pants in the woods, wash skin and clothes right away since that oil sinks, in fast and lingers. For your control, yank it with gloves and sleeves, mow it down repeatedly, or hit it with herbicides of needed. Climate change is cranking up the threat. Duke University research from the 2000s showed higher carbon dioxide makes Poison ivy grow, quicker and pump out more potent uruchio.

1:06With atmospheric CO2 of 50% since pre-industrial days, including record peaks this year, experts like Williams' Messenger say it's no shock. If it's spreading and hitting harder, stay vigilant out there, rinse off after hikes, and keep an eye on those vines as the planet warms. They're only getting boulder, that's your Durham News today update, AI-powered and always on.