6 thoughts on “CO2 Isn’t Good for You…It’s GREAT!!! (cartoon)”

1. Wouldn’t the person repeatedly breathing into a paper bag pass out from oxygen depletion? Check out my list of the benefits of Carbon and C02…you can’t live without them.
   http://comdenom.wordpress.com

   1. We breathe into a paper bag to help with hyperventilation and asthma (among other reasons). It is the increase in CO2 that alleviates symptoms–the joke here is that raising CO2 levels too high is not good for you…

2. IS CARBON DI OXIDE THE VILLAIN?

   Such terms as carbon credit find a place in newspapers almost daily. I don’t know what is all this about. To me CO2 sustains life on earth. Has the level of CO2 in the atmosphere gone up? Has it been proved experimentally?
   Before Industrialization
   The whole of America and most of the old world were inhabited by a comparatively small population, a majority of whom depended upon meat and fish. Farming depended entirely on rain water as big dams were unknown. The grasslands of America and Australia didn’t produce food grains. Coal and other fossil fuels were not commercially exploited. In those days we may presume that a proper balance existed between CO2 and other ingredients of the air like N2 and O2 in spite of forest fires, the like of which we witnessed in California recently.

   After Industrialization
   Commercial exploitation of coal began first followed by oil and natural gas, resulting in increase in the level of CO2 in the atmosphere. Simultaneously two other developments followed: increase in population (both human and animal) and corresponding growth in food grains production. Big dams were constructed and more and more areas of land were brought under cultivation. Mechanization and the use of artificial fertilizers made leaps and bounds in production of food grains, fruits and other commercial crops. The Prairies of North America became the granary of the world. Compared to grass, food grains and sugar fix a large quantity of CO2. The major items responsible for such CO2 fixation are:

   food grains like wheat, corn, rice, oats, soybean etc
   underground vegetables like potato, tapioca, beetroot etc
   fruits like apple, grapes, banana, dates, cherry, pineapple etc
   sugarcane etc

   Experts can calculate the total quantity of CO2 produced by industry and that absorbed by vegetation as mentioned above and the marine vegetation in order to find out whether the net balance is favoring CO2 concentration in the air. An easier way would be to experimentally ascertain the percentage of CO2 in the atmospheric air (being heavier than air CO2 is available near the surface of the earth). If CO2 level increases O2 level should decrease. In my childhood (I am 70+) O2 level was 20% as mentioned in my text book. Has it changed? An atom of carbon combines with two atoms of oxygen to form CO2 which is absorbed by the leaves of the plant to form starch. In the process two atoms of oxygen are released into the atmosphere. We may say that each carbon atom burnt ultimately results in the release of two atoms of oxygen, thus resulting in increase in the level of O2. Level of CO2 dissolved in the ocean water should also be checked. If this level increases, fishes would die en mass. Has this happened? If the level of CO2 dissolved in ocean waters decreases, plant life in the ocean cannot produce enough starch by photosynthesis. This will be a hazard for fishes and other marine life.

   The volume of animal and hence plant life in the oceans is much more than that on the continents. This is because the area of the oceans is seven times the area of the continents. Also, the oceans are deep. Hence the volume of water is very much more and can contain a large population of marine life. The necessary starch has to come from plant life. So, the total bio mass in the oceans is considerably higher than that in the continent. The carbon di oxideàPlant starchàAnimalsàCarbon di oxide cycle is there in the watery medium, just as in our atmosphere. All the gases, including nitrogen, will be present in dissolved state in the oceans too. Here industrialization has not affected the ‘atmosphere’ of the ocean. This fact has to be recognized in any discussion on Global Warming.

   [The percentage of various components of atmospheric air as obtained from the websites is given below:

   Nitrogen 78.1
   Oxygen 20.9
   Argon 0.9
   Neon 0.002
   Helium 0.0005
   Krypton 0.0001
   Hydrogen 0.00005
   Carbon di oxide 0.035!!!!!!!! (Poor, innocent CO2 has been maligned unnecessarily)
   Methane 0.0002
   Ozone 0.000004

   This would suggest that the percentage of oxygen has slightly increased. If this is true it augers ill, as forest fires may become uncontrollable with increase in the level of oxygen in the coming years. Therefore, this line should be investigated separately by experts. My guess is that with unchecked use of nitrogenous fertilizers, the total bio mass in the earth could have increased. The requisite extra nitrogen must have been drawn from the atmosphere along with CO2 releasing extra oxygen into the atmosphere as pointed out above.]

   The importance of proper scientific study cannot be over emphasized. Mother Nature maintains her balance, whatever her children may do!

   1. That sounds like a hilarious cartoon. Can you draw?

3. joe mohr, i dont know about c02 but we could definitely live without you. its not the amount of co2 but its effect. its a forcing agent, other gases [ water vapour ] are not . we breathe c02 out . if we didnt it it would kill us . not so harmless eh? when it was 5000ppm in the atmosphere there was no life on land. read this and learn, even if you delete

   1. Angry Anna,
      Read the cartoon–especially the second panel. The joke is that CO2, in great amounts, is not good for you…
      I believe we are on the same side…