Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is Not Pollution

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Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is Not Pollution

20 September 2009 - 7:52pm |

sierra

I heard a comment recently ( I wish I could remember where!) that Earth, Mars and Venus were 3 Sisters...and in order to give life to Earth, they gifted CO2 to Her..... this information stuck with me...

Searching into this subject, I found it quite enlightening. Seems in the dumbing down and accepting how we are "taught" to perceive Nature, we miss the Biggest perceptions!

And, once again, I see Earth Knows what She is doing ! Does Science ? that is the question! and from Who's standpoint/perspective have we been working? This may just be an ah- ha moment for me, but thought I would share for your own clarification and understanding of and beyond Global Warming. Annie

<a href="http://" target="_blank">
http://ilovecarbondioxide.com/2009/01/co2-is-life.html</a>

| January 6, 2009 | |
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is Not Pollution

"CO2 for different people has different attractions. After all, what is it? - it’s not a pollutant, it’s a product of every living creature’s breathing, it’s the product of all plant respiration, it is essential for plant life and photosynthesis, it’s a product of all industrial burning, it’s a product of driving – I mean, if you ever wanted a leverage point to control everything from exhalation to driving, this would be a dream. So it has a kind of fundamental attractiveness to bureaucratic mentality." - Richard S. Lindzen, Ph.D. Professor of Atmospheric Science, MIT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sGKvD

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is not pollution and Global Warming has nothing to do with pollution. The average person has been misled and is confused about what the current Global Warming debate is about, greenhouse gases. None of which has anything to do with air pollution. People are confusing Smog, Carbon Monoxide (CO) and the pollutants in car exhaust with the life supporting, essential trace gas in our atmosphere, Carbon Dioxide (CO2). Pollution is already regulated under the Clean Air Act and regulating Carbon Dioxide (CO2) will do absolutely nothing to make the air you breath "cleaner". Regulating Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions through either 'Carbon Taxes' or 'Cap and Trade' policies will cause energy prices (electricity, gasoline, diesel fuel, propane, heating oil ect...) to skyrocket.

"CO2 is not a pollutant. In simple terms, CO2 is plant food. The green world we see around us would disappear if not for atmospheric CO2. These plants largely evolved at a time when the atmospheric CO2 concentration was many times what it is today. Indeed, numerous studies indicate the present biosphere is being invigorated by the human-induced rise of CO2. In and of itself, therefore, the increasing concentration of CO2 does not pose a toxic risk to the planet." - John R. Christy, Ph.D. Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alabama

"Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant but a naturally occurring, beneficial trace gas in the atmosphere. For the past few million years, the Earth has existed in a state of relative carbon dioxide starvation compared with earlier periods. There is no empirical evidence that levels double or even triple those of today will be harmful, climatically or otherwise. As a vital element in plant photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is the basis of the planetary food chain - literally the staff of life. Its increase in the atmosphere leads mainly to the greening of the planet. To label carbon dioxide a "pollutant" is an abuse of language, logic and science." - Robert M. Carter, Ph.D. Professor of Environmental and Earth Sciences, James Cook University

"Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. On the contrary, it makes crops and forests grow faster. Economic analysis has demonstrated that more CO2 and a warmer climate will raise GNP and therefore average income. It's axiomatic that bureaucracies always want to expand their scope of operations. This is especially true of EPA, which is primarily a regulatory agency. As air and water pollution disappear as prime issues, as acid rain and stratospheric-ozone depletion fade from public view, climate change seems like the best growth area for regulators. It has the additional glamour of being international and therefore appeals to those who favor world governance over national sovereignty. Therefore, labeling carbon dioxide, the product of fossil-fuel burning, as a pollutant has a high priority for EPA as a first step in that direction." - S. Fred Singer, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia

"Carbon and CO2 (carbon dioxide) are fundamental for all life on Earth. CO2 is a colorless, odorless, non-toxic gas. CO2 is product of our breathing, and is used in numerous common applications like fire extinguishers, baking soda, carbonated drinks, life jackets, cooling agent, etc. Plants' photosynthesis consume CO2 from the air when the plants make their carbohydrates, which bring the CO2 back to the air again when the plants rot or are being burned." - Tom V. Segalstad, Ph.D. Professor of Environmental Geology, University of Oslo

"To suddenly label CO2 as a "pollutant" is a disservice to a gas that has played an enormous role in the development and sustainability of all life on this wonderful Earth. Mother Earth has clearly ruled that CO2 is not a pollutant." - Robert C. Balling Jr., Ph.D. Professor of Climatology, Arizona State University

"Many chemicals are absolutely necessary for humans to live, for instance oxygen. Just as necessary, human metabolism produces by-products that are exhaled, like carbon dioxide and water vapor. So, the production of carbon dioxide is necessary, on the most basic level, for humans to survive. The carbon dioxide that is emitted as part of a wide variety of natural processes is, in turn, necessary for vegetation to live. It turns out that most vegetation is somewhat 'starved' for carbon dioxide, as experiments have shown that a wide variety of plants grow faster, and are more drought tolerant, in the presence of doubled carbon dioxide concentrations. Fertilization of the global atmosphere with the extra CO2 that mankind's activities have emitted in the last century is believed to have helped increase agricultural productivity. In short, carbon dioxide is a natural part of our environment, necessary for life, both as 'food' and as a by-product." - Roy Spencer, Ph.D. Meteorology

"I am at a loss to understand why anyone would regard carbon dioxide as a pollutant. Carbon dioxide, a natural gas produced by human respiration, is a plant nutrient that is beneficial both for people and for the natural environment. It promotes plant growth and reforestation. Faster-growing trees mean lower housing costs for consumers and more habitat for wild species. Higher agricultural yields from carbon dioxide fertilization will result in lower food prices and will facilitate conservation by limiting the need to convert wild areas to arable land." - David Deming, Ph.D. Professor of Geology and Geophysics, University of Oklahoma

"Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. It is a colorless, odorless trace gas that actually sustains life on this planet. Consider the simple dynamics of human energy acquisition, which occurs daily across the globe. We eat plants directly, or we consume animals that have fed upon plants, to obtain the energy we need. But where do plants get their energy? Plants produce their own energy during a process called photosynthesis, which uses sunlight to combine water and carbon dioxide into sugars for supporting overall growth and development. Hence, CO2 is the primary raw material that plants depend upon for their existence. Because plants reside beneath animals (including humans) on the food chain, their healthy existence ultimately determines our own. Carbon dioxide can hardly be labeled a pollutant, for it is the basic substrate that allows life to persist on Earth." - Keith E. Idso, Ph.D. Botany

"Atmospheric CO2 is required for life by both plants and animals. It is the sole source of carbon in all of the protein, carbohydrate, fat, and other organic molecules of which living things are constructed. Plants extract carbon from atmospheric CO2 and are thereby fertilized. Animals obtain their carbon from plants. Without atmospheric CO2, none of the life we see on Earth would exist. Water, oxygen, and carbon dioxide are the three most important substances that make life possible. They are surely not environmental pollutants." - Arthur B. Robinson, Ph.D. Professor of Chemistry

Carbon Dioxide

- Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is a natural part of Earth's Atmosphere (NASA)
- Carbon Dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere have risen from 0.028% to 0.038% (380ppm) over the past 100 years (IPCC)
- Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is not toxic until 5% (50,000ppm) concentration (Source)
- Any detrimental effects of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) including chronic exposure to 3% (30,000ppm) are reversible (Source)
- OSHA, NIOSH, and ACGIH occupational exposure standards are 0.5% (5,000 ppm) Carbon Dioxide (CO2) (Source)

Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is a treaty to regulate 'Greenhouse Gases' only:
- Carbon dioxide (CO2)
- Methane (CH4)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) (Laughing Gas, Nitrous, NOS)
- Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
- Perfluorocarbons (PFCs)
- Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)
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another good site for pictures, simple understanding and reeducating ourselves:
<a href="http://www.amnh.org/learn/courses/ocean_resource5.php" target="_blank"></a>

American Museum of Natural History

http://www.amnh.org/learn/courses/ocean_resource5.php

Sample Essay - Week 4: The ocean's role in the climate system
This essay was developed for the AMNH online course The Ocean System. The Ocean System is a part of Seminars on Science, a program of online graduate-level professional development courses for K-12 educators.

The ocean's role in the climate system
by Dr. Rondi Davies

“Human beings are now carrying out a large-scale geophysical experiment of a kind that could not have happened in the past nor be reproduced in the future. Within a few centuries we are returning to the atmosphere and oceans the concentrated organic carbon stored in sedimentary rocks over hundreds of millions of years.” — Climatologist Roger Revelle, 1957

In 1989, John Martin, late director of the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, boasted, “Give me a half tanker of iron, and I will give you an ice age.” What on Earth was he talking about?

What is global warming?

Over hundreds, thousands, and million of years, Earth’s climate has gone through natural cycles of warming and cooling. These days, the Earth is heating up. What's worrisome is that it’s heating at an accelerated rate: since 1865 the global mean surface temperature has increased from 14.4 to 15.4°C (57.9 to 59.7°F), which may not seem like a lot, but is the warmest it’s been in the past 1,000 years. The rise in temperature coincides with the Industrial Revolution, when humans started burning large amounts of fossil fuels. These activities release carbon dioxide (CO2) and other gases into the atmosphere, and since 1850, over the same time period, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased 25-30% (from 275 to 366 parts per million). As CO2 in the atmosphere increases, the Earth warms. The temperature increases have been sustained enough to cause climatic change: a phenomenon known as global warming.

The greenhouse effect

Earth receives and re-emits radiation from the Sun. On its path to the Earth and back into space, this energy has to contend with a whole set of obstacles, some of which absorb the energy and others that scatter or reflect it. Thirty percent of the radiation is reflected back by clouds, air, dust, haze, land, and water. Nineteen percent is absorbed by gases and atmospheric dust before it hits the Earth's surface. That leaves just over half of the solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface. Most of this energy is emitted as outgoing infrared radiation, which is absorbed by greenhouse gases before ultimately escaping back to space. These natural gases, which include water vapor, CO2, ozone, methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide, keep the Earth warm. Without greenhouse gases, the average surface temperature of the Earth (15°C) would drop to –18°C.

The role of increased CO2 and other greenhouse gases in global warming is not completely clear because the climate system is very sensitive to forcings (natural or man-made influences). Because the reaction to a forcing may be amplified, or just the opposite (barely noticeable), it’s hard to determine cause and effect. This makes climate change difficult to understand and predict. For example, a warmer planet has more evaporation, which puts more water in the atmosphere. Since water vapor is a greenhouse gas, this could further heat the atmosphere. A condition such as a lot of dust high in the atmosphere could have the opposite effect, acting like an umbrella and keeping some solar radiation from reaching the planet. Volcanic eruptions are a major source of such dust; when Mt. Pinatubo's erupted in the Philippines in 1991, Earth’s average temperature dropped 0.5°C in 1992. Nor is the effect of cloud cover straightforward. While clouds cool the Earth by shading it, depending on density and altitude, they may also warm it by holding in heat.

Is the current warming natural? How much is due to the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere? How is the climate reacting to increased greenhouse gases today, and how will it react in the future? We’re not sure, but the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that if CO2 emissions continue to rise at the same rate, the average temperature will rise by as much as 5.8°C over the next century. And we know that rapid climate change in the past caused extinctions on a massive scale.
[The Earth’s heat budget is determined by the amount of sunlight that is either absorbed or reflected by the Earth’s varied surfaces. Bright, reflective surfaces like ice and snow reflect more solar energy than any other surface, while the ocean absorbs the most solar energy.]

The Earth’s heat budget is determined by the amount of sunlight that is either absorbed or reflected by the Earth’s varied surfaces. Bright, reflective surfaces like ice and snow reflect more solar energy than any other surface, while the ocean absorbs the most solar energy. ©AMNH

Why seed the ocean with iron?

As you learned in this week’s preceding essays, the ocean moderates climate by storing and transporting heat. But it also plays a vital role as a carbon “sink”: it has a huge capacity to absorb CO2. The deep ocean contains a lot of dissolved CO2 because it’s efficiently stored in cold water at high pressure. And photosynthesis by marine plants and algae, principally phytoplankton, soaks up millions of tons of CO2 annually. The ocean has absorbed almost 50% of the atmospheric CO2 produced since 1800. How much more can it hold? While we don’t know exactly, some researchers think the ocean is already at 30% of its capacity.

One way to increase the CO2 uptake rates would be to modify the ocean’s chemistry, and that’s where Dr. Martin’s idea comes in. His tanker would have headed for certain nutrient-rich parts of the ocean that are oddly empty of phytoplankton. Martin theorized that this was because they aren’t reached by windblown dust, the ocean’s major source of iron. An artificial supply, he reasoned, would stimulate phytoplankton blooms large enough to absorb enough carbon to reverse the greenhouse effect and cool our warming planet. But who knows what the long-term effects of this experiment on the hydrosphere and biosphere might be?

Another way to think about the ocean’s role in CO2 absorption is to compare Earth and Venus. They’re about the same size and probably started out with similar atmospheres. Today, Earth stores most of its carbon in its geosphere (rocks), biosphere (soil and plants), and hydrosphere (ocean), and these reservoirs moderate the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Venus’s atmosphere, on the other hand, is predominantly CO2 (96.5%, compared to Earth’s 0.033%), and little carbon is held in rocks. Consequently, the atmosphere insulates the planet incredibly effectively — so well that it causes a “runaway greenhouse” effect. The result is an average surface temperature of 430°C, hot enough to melt lead.

Carbon Cycle
[Carbon Cycle]
©AMNH

1. Carbon dioxide is exchanged between the atmosphere and the ocean's upper layers.
2. Carbon dioxide is exchanged with plants on land and in the ocean through photosynthesis, and exchanged with animals through respiration. When those plants and animals die, organic compounds collect and decompose in soil or in sediments on the seafloor. When microbes consume that organic matter, carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) are released into the atmosphere.
3. Some of that organic matter is buried and transformed by heat and pressure into rocks or coal and oil. (Coal and oil are called fossil fuels because they derive from ancient plants and animals.)
4. The consumption of fossil fuels releases carbon into the atmosphere.
5. Weathering of rocks removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to form carbonate rock by the following reaction (CaSiO3 + CO2 = CaCO3 + SiO2).
6. Marine organisms remove carbon dioxide (CO2) and bicarbonate (HCO3) from seawater to make shells. When the organisms die, they settle to the ocean floor, eventually becoming sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rocks remove most (80%) of the Earth’s carbon from surface reservoirs, which prevents the Earth from going the way of Venus with its runaway greenhouse effect.
7. Sedimentary rocks may be transformed by heat and pressure to form metamorphic rocks, or may melt to form igneous rocks. Molten rock containing dissolved carbon dioxide may rise to feed active volcanoes. Near the Earth’s surface, the gas may be liberated into the atmosphere.

The Carbon Cycle

A major component of all life on Earth, carbon is found across all of Earth’s systems — in the:

* atmosphere — in gases from volcanoes and from the decay of organic matter;
* biosphere — in organic compounds found in plants, animals and soil;
* hydrosphere — as dissolved CO2 and bicarbonate (HCO3); and in the
* geosphere — in rocks and minerals; as calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in coral reefs, limestone, and chalk; as buried organic matter — shale, coal, oil and gas, and gas hydrates (crystalline solids formed from a mixture of water and natural gas, usually methane).

Carbon stays in these reservoirs for different lengths of time. Its average residence times in the atmosphere (five years), the biosphere (13 years), and the oceans (350 years) are far shorter than in the geosphere, where it may remain in the solid Earth for millions to hundreds of millions of years. Enormous amounts of material are transferred between these reservoirs in a process called the carbon cycle. This happens through physical, chemical, and biological processes, including human activities such as consuming fossil fuels, farming, and deforestation, all of which release CO2 into the atmosphere.

The biological component of the carbon cycle — known as the biological pump — is particularly critical to this process. Through photosynthesis, inorganic carbon is transformed into parts of living organisms (as carbonate in seashells or sugar in marine phytoplankton). This process removes carbon from the atmosphere with astonishing efficiency. It’s why the ocean contains about 50 times as much CO2 as the atmosphere, and it makes our planet habitable. Without the biological pump, atmospheric CO2 would rise from the current level of about 360 parts per million (ppm) to about 550 ppm, which would turn the Earth into a steaming greenhouse. On the other hand, if the biological pump were cranked up to maximum (if all the ocean’s nutrients were made use of), atmospheric CO2 would drop to about 140 parts per million, and the surface temperature would drop with it.

Surface appearance does matter

The surface of the Earth is key to the fate of incoming solar radiation, because it determines whether the light is absorbed or reflected. Snow and ice are highly reflective, which is one reason Antarctica is the coldest continent. (It also gets much less radiation.) In contrast, vegetation absorbs heat and the ocean absorbs and stores it. The proportion of radiation reflected back into space by Earth’s surface or by particles in the atmosphere is called albedo.

Earth’s albedo is changing as the ice caps melt. Snow- and ice-covered surfaces are being replaced by water or land, which will trap heat rather than reflect it, warming the atmosphere. Evidence of this process is striking in many places on Earth. For example, the zone of melting on Greenland's two-mile-high ice sheet has grown about 16 percent since 1979, with 2002 setting a record. And between 1960 and 2000, the world’s glaciers retreated 7%, an area bigger than Texas and Arizona combined and almost equal to their retreat over the preceding 110 years.

The Earth’s albedo does an amazing job of helping to balance the Earth’s climate. The atmosphere and ocean keep the Earth’s temperature in a very specific range that allows liquid water to exist along with ice and atmospheric water vapor, and makes our planet habitable.

How is the climate changing today?

Nevertheless, although scientists disagree about the causes and rate of change, there is no doubt that human activity is influencing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and that the planet is warming. Some effects are already upon us, particularly in the polar regions:

* Sea level has risen by nearly a meter over the past century, worsening periodic flooding.
* Pine trees across North America have been infested by an epidemic of bark beetles, whose reproductive cycle has doubled because of warm weather.
* Once seen every seven years or so, El Niños are now common and more severe than ever.
* Alarming episodes of mass coral bleaching have occurred in many reefs around the globe. They are caused by slight changes in water temperature — caused in part by human-induced global warming — which kill algae within the coral, without which most coral cannot survive.
* Polar bears, which rely on sea ice to reach their prey, are dying as the ice diminishes.
* Tundra ecosystems around the Arctic are shrinking to their smallest extent in at least 21,000 years, reducing breeding areas for many bird species and grazing lands for caribou and other mammals.

It’s harder to predict the effect of warming on the ocean's circulation system, but there’s evidence that large and abrupt changes in global climate have been caused by changes in ocean circulation and vice versa. Is the existing ocean circulation pattern stable enough to withstand all these stresses? As for seeding the ocean with iron, are there better ways to tackle global warming?

Online Resources:

* AMNH: Science Bulletins - Global Ozone
Explore an animation showing ozone measurements across the globe.
http://sciencebulletins.amnh.org/earth/v/ozone.20050214/

* AMNH: Science Bulletins - Global CO Emissions
A visualization of CO gas, produced by burning fossil fuels, vegetation, and natural fires.
http://sciencebulletins.amnh.org/earth/v/co.20041001/

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