Herbe à Poux-Ragweed
I am currently volunteering at Crivert working on the Ragweed control program. The long term goal is to reduce occurences of hay fever in the population in an attempt reduce sick days and lost productivity. The experiment started in 2007 and will finish in 2010.
The hypothesis: if the city of Valleyfield mows its terraces (and more importantly it`s ragweed population) 3 times (rather than just twice) during the ragweed season, the airbound pollen count will decrease.
Method: Myself and Aristide have already completed our inspections of hundreds of city terraces and taken notes on the spots that require the most treatment. Hot-spots or red-spots (areas with a high ragweed count) will, ideally, be cut more efficiently the following year.
Materials: bicycles, notepads, pollen trappers
Problems: increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmoshpere have been shown to increase ragweed pollen count. Read: global warming will increase ragweed pollen count.
Conclusion: If the project is to be scientificaly sound, then the researchers shoul be sure to cross reference the rising CO2 levels with the increase in weed cutting.
Final thoughts: The bottom line in the story, like so many others, is money. Millions of work hours lost is bad for the economy. Although I find it hard to believe that it`s that simple.
