So what the hell is CO2, and why is it so evil?
Well the short answer is that Co2 stands for carbon dioxide and far from being evil it is vital to all forms of life on Earth.
Now this is a fact and we have the right to expect that people engaging in this debate have at least a very basic knowledge of what they are talking about. However listening to a young 'environmentalist' (whatever that is) on the radio the other day I was shocked to hear that according to him it would be far better for the planet if we could get rid of all Co2, which of course would turn the earth into a giant replica of the moon – but with less life on it.
So how much Co2 do we have in the atmosphere? Well listening to all the Climate Change Fanatics (CCF's) you could well be convinced that it comprises just about all of it, this is in fact nonsense. It is present in such small amounts that it is classified as a 'trace gas', it comprises 380 parts per million of the total gasses making up the earth's atmosphere. Now the problem with throwing labels like that at you is it is very difficult to relate to it. I mean do you know how much a million is? I know it's a big figure but have no idea how big.
Try this, imagine a matchstick, now we all know how big one of those is. They are about 2 millimetres wide. Now if you lay 1 million matchsticks side by side you would have a row of matchsticks approximately one and a quarter miles long. I think many of us can visualise a mile and a quarter. Now count off 380 matchsticks, that is about 29 and a half inches long, about the distance from your armpit to the tips of your fingers. The length of your arm compared to one and a quarter miles is the amount of Co2 there is in the atmosphere. However the vast majority of that 380 ppm is not manmade, it comes from natural sources. Mankind only emits about 3.4 per cent of this figure, that's about 1 inch. So you have 1 and one quarter miles representing all the atmosphere, only an arms length of that is Co2 and of that amount only half a thumb length is manmade. But it doesn't stop there; of that 1 inch only about half goes into the atmosphere, the other half is absorbed by plants and other surface level sinks that absorb Co2.
So to recap, the amount of manmade Co2 that actually enters the atmosphere is the equivalent of a thumbnail compared to 1 1 and a quarter miles! Not very much is it? Now according to the CCF's this thumbnail is so powerful it can change the entire planet, it will cause mountains to fall and seas to rise, deserts to, well do something ( they're not quite sure what) and fields to do something else. Oh come on. Let's stop and think for a minute. One thing us humans are very good at doing is killing each other, and boy can we think up some interesting and varied ways to do it. I have seen myself the effect of explosives against tanks, seen huge lorries shredded by machine guns and men vaporised by explosives. Don't you think that if a gas like Co2 could have so much power the arms manufacturers would have turned it into a weapon by now?
The fact is that Co2 is vital for life on earth (in spite of the US Supreme Court classifying it as a 'pollutant', what was that all about. With Co2 nothing would live, no plants, no animals, no insects nothing – all dead, all gone.
Here's something to think about, if all mankind vanished from the earth tomorrow, it would only take a few months for the additional plant life to make up the Co2 levels to what we were contributing.
Next we are going to take a look at Greenhouse Gasses, what are they and are they part of the axis of evil too?
4 Comments
by mark duchamp, Spain
Wednesday, January 13 2010, 7:02PM
“Thank you for this article which makes scientific sense. Indeed, CO2 is as vital to life on earth as is oxygen. There was 5 times as much CO2 in the atmosphere during the dinosaurs era, 100 million years ago, and the earth was a lot greener than today, with no deserts.
The confusion comes from the deadly gas CO ( carbon monoxide ), which comes out from things that do not burn properly, like a poorly tuned engine. That kills people. But CO2 (carbon dioxide) is a different kettle of fish. It¿s a good guy. We put it in our greenhouses to enhance crop growth, we put it in our soft drinks, and it's the fizz of beer and champagne.
Carbon, by the way, is an essential building block of life. Every living thing is made of carbon, among other components.
The climate fanatics are lying to us in order to push their agenda. Some knowingly, like the manipulating scientists of the CRU (see ¿Climategate¿), some unknowingly. And that agenda is to ruin the naughty West, and to let China and the United Nations rule the world, with a huge & corrupt bureaucracy.
Be ready for misery, my friends.”
by Fatty, Swansea
Wednesday, December 23 2009, 1:13PM
“This article has obviously been written by a 13yr old combined science student. so please guys, don't pick on typos. lol
"What the hell is CO2?" Come on editor, put some reigns on your "journalists" please!!”
by Bob, Kidwelly
Wednesday, December 23 2009, 9:09AM
“This is bad, another typo para 6: "The fact is that Co2 is vital for life on earth (in spite of the US Supreme Court classifying it as a 'pollutant', what was that all about. With Co2 nothing would live, no plants, no animals, no insects nothing ¿ all dead, all gone." This should read:"The fact is that Co2 is vital for life on earth (in spite of the US Supreme Court classifying it as a 'pollutant', what was that all about.) Without Co2 nothing would live, no plants, no animals, no insects nothing ¿ all dead, all gone.”
by Bob Hinton, Kidwelly
Wednesday, December 23 2009, 9:05AM
“There is a typo in para 5. It says:"equivalent of a thumbnail compared to 1 1 and a quarter miles!". That should read, as previously, 1 and a quarter miles.”