By Chris Taylor
Reston, VA – A National Wildlife Federation study finds poison ivy is becoming more potent and the deer tick population is exploding in the US. The study links climate change to helping these wildlife species thrive. NWF senior scientist Doug Inkley says it means more people around the world will be introduced to the deer tick, a carrier of Lyme disease, which we know only too well in Kentucky.
"The deer tick, which only goes as far north at the U.S.-Canadian border, will probably, by the end of the century, be able to reach all the way up to just south of Hudson Bay, about a 60% range expansion."
The report also finds the toxicity levels of poison ivy are growing because of increased levels of CO2.