Page 19 - GHES-3-3

Global Health Economics and
Sustainability
Sustainable therapeutic Artemisia

and transportation for a carbon dioxide equivalent (CO ) 7. Conclusion
2e
of 122 g CO /treatment. The LMA Artemisia tea approach
2e
inputs included the Artemisia leaves, packaging, and For millennia, humans have experimented with the
transportation for a carbon dioxide equivalent (CO ) of natural world, especially plants, to discover mixtures and
2e
15 g CO /treatment. These inputs reflect those detailed species that could aid in promoting health. While not
all herbs and plants are necessarily safe to use directly,
2e
in Tables 2 and 3. Carbone 4 estimated that shifting A. annua and A. afra are two excellent examples of plants
from 100% ACT to 100% Artemisia tea infusion could with robust histories of traditional use for the treatment
save 25 kt CO , equivalent to 100 million km driven by of various ailments. Both Artemisia species appear to be
2e
automobiles.
therapeutically effective when used as an oral complex
6.2. Climate change effects on Artemisia: mixture including plant extracts and the whole plant.
Temperature, water, and CO 2 Production and use costs are reduced with a smaller carbon
Our changing climate will alter regional agricultural footprint. This results in not only greater efficacy but also
enhanced economic and environmental sustainability, all
outputs with increased heat, drought, excessive rainfall, of which the NGO La Maison d’Artemisia appears to have
or cold temperatures. Modeling suggests that Artemisia achieved.
cultivation, currently optimized in the mid-latitudes,
will be adversely affected by climate change, potentially Are we to ignore all that valuable history and
shifting further toward the poles as equatorial regions scientific rediscovery of these beneficial plants in favor
and lower latitudes continue to warm; this could impact of purifying molecules that are costly, environmentally
current cultivation areas (Ding et al., 2020; Wang et al., burdensome, often less efficacious, promote income
2022). Plant growth and metabolism are impacted and gender inequality, and eventually contribute to
by photosynthesis, the control of which depends on drug resistance? We should encourage more research
the integration of temperature, light intensity, and and approval of these medicinal plants for broader,
CO levels. When Artemisia plants were grown at CO 2 more cost-effective therapeutic use, rather than
2
level of 400 ppm, increasing temperature from 30°C cherry-pick certain options that lead to necropolitical

to 37°C decreased A. annua photosynthesis by 15%, decisions. Other plant species may also offer similar
but doubling the CO level to 800 ppm resulted in benefits for sustainable therapeutic use, and regulatory
2
only about a 9% decrease in photosynthesis (Daussy & bodies should be more supportive of the reasonable
Staudt, 2020). While ART was not measured, arteannuin development and approval of such medicinal plants for
the global community.
B, produced in a side branch of the ART biosynthetic
pathway, decreased by 50% when CO was doubled Acknowledgments
2
from 400 to 800 ppm at 30°C, but by only 25% when
both temperature and CO were elevated. Interestingly, Gratitude is extended to Prof. Sarah Strauss of the WPI
2
plant dry mass increased with increasing CO levels. In Global School, Prof. Robert Krueger Social of Science and
2
another study, ART increased only slightly in A. annua Policy Studies, Worcester Polytechnic Institute for critical
plantlets when CO concentration was tripled from 500 review of the manuscript, and to Dr. Melissa Towler of
2
to 1500 µmol mol air (Supaibulwattana et al., 2011). Biology and Biotechnology also from WPI for editorial
-1
Prolonged water stress (drought) has a negative effect review and the TLC images.
on plant biomass productivity; however, if applied Funding
judiciously and approximately 36 h before harvest, it can
increase ART production in A. annua leaves by almost Some of the data shared in this report were derived
30% (Marchese et al., 2010). Young A. annua requires from studies funded to P.J. Weathers (Award No.: NIH-
regular watering to become established with deep roots 2R15AT008277-02) from the National Center for
but requires less attention to watering as they mature. As Complementary and Integrative Health, which partially
A. annua cultivation shifts in latitude, the photoperiod funded the analysis of the plant material in this study. The
changes, and depending on the cultivar, flowering may content is solely the responsibility of the author and does
be induced earlier; this can also lead to changes in not necessarily represent the official views of the National
biomass per hectare and alterations in phytochemical Center for Complementary and Integrative Health or the
concentrations, such as ART (Marchese et al., 2023). National Institutes of Health.
Together, these studies show that to achieve consistent
ART and other phytochemicals, climate change will Conflict of interest
affect how and where A. annua can be cultivated. The author declares no competing interests.

Volume 3 Issue 3 (2025) 11 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.4927