Carbon Dioxide . . . It's good for you

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

When you consider that the earth has endured much more CO2 than exists today is a testament that the debate is blown out of proportion.  Yeah we can aim for a more green lifestyle, but the world is not going to burn or flood out to an end where it is no longer able to sustain life like the eco-terrorists and their supporters want to make it seem.

First, calling people who want emissions reduced "eco-terrorists" seems rather extreme.

Second, this does not address the point behind the post at hand.  Whether or not increased CO2 emissions are bad, it is still true that it is an utter, unabashed red herring to point out that CO2 is necessary for life and then act as if it has any relevance whatsoever to the question of regulating emissions.

Eco-terrorist organizations like BP are out of control!

[jerusalemcar5]

When you consider that the earth has endured much more CO2 than exists today is a testament that the debate is blown out of proportion.  Yeah we can aim for a more green lifestyle, but the world is not going to burn or flood out to an end where it is no longer able to sustain life like the eco-terrorists and their supporters want to make it seem.

I'm not sure what you mean by "much" more, but the last time there was major CO2 Earth wasn't inhabited by life...

[nlm]

What a ridiculous straw man arguement. Yet another example of hard liners trying to rationalize screwing over their own children and grand children so they can have a little more right now. It's very similar to the national debt arguement you hear big spending members of Congress making or the immigration arguements that the President makes. What a group of irresponsible, greedy, immature, *ss clowns we have in charge - it's past time for the beatings to begin for their reprehensible behavior on a whole host of issues.

[Inverted Things]

The planet Venus is in many respects similar to earth. Both are rocky planets, they are at a somewhat similar distance from the sun, they have similar densities, and they appear to have similar levels of geological activity.

Venus has an average surface temperature in the neighborhood of 900 degrees Fahrenheit, in spite of the fact that it reflects most of the sun's energy. The culprit is greenhouse gases, chiefly CO2.

The earth has every bit as much CO2 as Venus does. On the earth it's dissolved in oceans and rocks, which is why our greenhouse effect isn't as bad, and is just right to keep the planet habitable.

It's not hard to see where a vicious cycle might come into play here. CO2 levels are now 30% higher than they have been at any point in the past 400,000 years. Ocean water holds a great deal of CO2, and the ability of water to dissolve CO2 goes down as temperature goes up.

If the ocean heats up by a single degree worldwide (which is a tall order), it will release some of its carbon dioxide, which will warm up the earth, which will warm the oceans further, which will result in more CO2 being released, and so on.

The earth may have endured more CO2 in the air at some point than we are enduring today, but the difference is that we are going to continue pumping CO2 into the air at an enormous rate. Humans have single-handedly increased the CO2 in the air by that 30% since about 1800.

All of this is to say that people should not be quite so quick to dismiss the idea that global warming is a fiction. We are releasing greenhouse gases into the air at a high rate, and there is potential for a vicious cycle. Venus serves as a warning for what could happen if the level of greenhouse gases gets out of hand.

We would be better off not dismissing the idea that humans are changing the climate. Instead, we need more research to determine the likelihood of that vicious cycle starting. We should also find ways to minimize the CO2 output by human activities.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

Earth has survived much higher levels of CO2 before.

[nlm]

Earth has survived much higher levels of CO2 before.

But humanity - living on Earth - has not.

Venus is getting along just fine as well, maybe all the folks that think CO2 is such a wonderful thing should think about breathing some of the lovely and refreshing atmosphere there - or better yet, actually breath it for a bit, they would have a few seconds to figure it out before their untimely deaths.