Ian Bradford: CO2 – the gas of life

Carbon dioxide is our second most important gas. Yet some want to eliminate emissions of it almost entirely.

Carbon dioxide occurs naturally in the atmosphere and plays a crucial role in the life processes of the planet. This gas is fundamental to the life cycles of plants and it is absorbed during photosynthesis, and converted into carbon in the plant’s growth structures through a photochemical process. This process releases oxygen into the atmosphere, the gas essential for the respiration of living organisms.

The formula of carbon dioxide is CO2. This tells us that there is one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms in a molecule of carbon dioxide. It looks like this:

It has been written many times by climate alarmists that carbon dioxide is a pollutant and is poisonous. It is neither. It is not a pollutant and it is not poisonous. A pollutant is something which has an undesirable effect on the environment. Now the climate alarmists might say well it causes global warming which is undesirable. But there is no empirical proof that the 4% of all carbon dioxide caused by human activities causes climate change. We breathe in carbon dioxide from the air, with a concentration of a bit over 400 parts per million. We breathe out carbon dioxide with a concentration of 40,000 parts per million. If it is poisonous that should kill us. But clearly it doesn’t. Carbon dioxide is not poisonous. People may die when carbon dioxide concentrations are high because this gas may exclude other gases like oxygen.

An article by Covering Climate now partnered with The Guardian say that their current trajectory is that sea levels may rise by 20 feet (between 6 and 7 metres), over the next 100 years. They then say this: “Our dilemma is rooted in basic physics. Once CO2 is emitted it remains in the atmosphere for millennia (That’s thousands of years!). New Zealand scientist Dr Jock Alison disputes this very strongly. “CO2 actually has a short time in the atmosphere,” says Dr Alison. Further recent studies published in the journal “Entropy”, suggest that the resident time of any carbon dioxide molecule entering the atmosphere is between 5 and 10 years. This is far shorter than the hundreds of years by those pushing the narrative that humans are causing climate change. The resident time of 5 to 10 years was also confirmed by Physicist Peter Stallinga from the University of the Algarve in Portugal.

The Properties of Carbon Dioxide.

Joseph Black, a Scottish chemist and physician first identified carbon dioxide in the 1750’s. At room temperature of 20-25 Deg C it is a colourless, odourless gas which is non- flammable. Although it exists mainly in the gaseous form it also has a solid and liquid form. It becomes solid at about -78 Deg C, and this is commonly called dry ice. I remember when very young, ice cream cakes were all the rage. They would be delivered to your house in a box surrounded by dry ice, (solid carbon dioxide). We were all amazed at the time, at how the solid just seemed to disappear into the air. We now know of course that sold carbon dioxide sublimes. It passes straight from a solid to a gas without becoming a liquid first. At present, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air is about 420 parts per million (ppm).

Some Uses of Carbon Dioxide

· Carbon dioxide is used in surgery as an insufflation gas for minimal invasive surgery (laproscopy, endoscopy, arthroscopy), to enlarge and stabilise body cavities to provide better visibility of the surgical area. It is colourless, inexpensive, non flammable, and has higher blood solubility than air. Carbon dioxide stays in the blood for between 3 and 7 days.

· Carbon dioxide can be made into a variety of intermediaries – materials that then serve as feedstock for other industrial processes like methanol, syngas and formic acid. It can also be transformed by catalysts into polymers, the precursor to plastics, adhesives, and pharmaceuticals.

· As dry ice at -78 Deg C it can be used to keep a variety of things at low temperatures.

· Pure CO2 provides very deep weld penetration which is useful for welding thick material. A mixture of Argon and carbon dioxide produces superior results on thin materials using a MIG welder.

· Carbon dioxide is used in fire extinguishers. It works by removing oxygen, essentially displacing it so that the fire cannot burn. It is cheap and widely available. It has the advantage that it can be used on electrical fires.

· Carbon dioxide can be used to keep home furnishing clean. An American university has conducted research where carbon dioxide vapour is used to freeze home furnishings. This process removes allergy causing substances and kills dust mites reducing asthma symptoms.

· Carbon Dioxide puts life and fizz into drinks.

The Part Carbon Dioxide plays in Environmental Processes

Carbon Dioxide plays an important part in plant and animal processes, such as photosynthesis and respiration. Green plants convert carbon dioxide and water using sunlight into food compounds such as glucose (carbohydrates), and oxygen. Plants and animals in turn, convert the food compounds by combining them with oxygen to release energy for growth, and other life activities. This process is respiration. Humans breathe in Oxygen and that combines with the glucose in our blood to gives us growth and energy. The glucose comes from the foods we eat. We exhale carbon dioxide and water vapour.

What about the levels of Carbon Dioxide?

The current level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is about 420 parts per million. This means that for every million molecules of gases in the atmosphere, 420 of them are carbon dioxide. In Geological past, the level has reached 7000 parts per million (ppm). 140 million years ago the level was 4000 ppm. However, the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been trending down since that time.

The lower limit for plant survival is about 150 ppm for most plants Below this, most plants die, and of course humans will not then survive either. If the downward trend of carbon dioxide continued then life would end. Climate alarmists seem to be unaware of the danger of groups trying to stop emission of carbon dioxide entirely.

How Much Carbon Dioxide Can We Tolerate?

Recent research confirms that indoor carbon dioxide levels are much in excess of what we have outdoors yet they pose no risk to human health. Research for 2002 found schoolchildren in 120 randomly selected schools in Texas experienced no ill health effects when peak carbon dioxide levels in their classrooms exceeded 1,000 ppm in 88% of the classrooms and 3,000 ppm in 21% of the classrooms.

Submariners in the Second World War often had levels of carbon dioxide of 8,000 ppm while they spent long periods underwater.

A study from 2021 published in the peer reviewed journal Indoor Air, examined the effect of greatly elevated indoor carbon dioxide levels on a broad array of health indicators such as blood chemistry, heart rate, respiratory rate, flexibility and short term assessments of cognitive ability. The level of carbon dioxide was raised to 22,000 ppm. Blood pH decreased slightly, but generally no significant changes were noted.

SO THE CONCENTRATION OF CARBON DIOXIDE IS NOT A PROBLEM, at least for a very long time.

More Carbon Dioxide Stimulates Plant Growth

Plants need carbon dioxide, water, and light to photosynthesise, and the more CO2 they receive the better plants grow. Plants take in CO2 through small pores called stomata on the undersides of the leaves. Guard cells surround stomata and open and close them. When conditions are dry the stomata close, thus reducing water loss from the plant.

For a long time now, greenhouse growers have used CO2 to supplement plant growth. They feed carbon dioxide into the greenhouse and this can enhance plant growth by up to 40%. The CO2 concentration is increased to between 700 ppm and 1,000 ppm. Plants show a positive response up to 1,800 ppm.

The above shows a typical carbon dioxide generator in a greenhouse.

Below we see the impact that carbon dioxide has on plant growth.

Then we see the benefit of more CO2 on crop yields. The graphs below are for the US from 1866 to 2020. With a growing world population greater crop yields for the same area of ground is a huge advantage. The blue line shows the carbon dioxide increase.

Because of the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere the whole world is greening. Satellite photos clearly show this. It is almost like the planet is trying to restore equilibrium. More trees then more absorption of carbon dioxide.

There are several climate alarmist groups trying to drastically reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. They think that the very small amount of carbon dioxide put into the air by humans, compared with natural sources, causes global warming or climate change. If you look at the graph below it is clear there is no relation between the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the Earth’s temperature.

Below is an enlargement of the last 140 million years. The table on the graph says CO2 projection without human emissions. I have changed “human” to current as there is no empirical proof that the current increase in CO2 is coming from humans. Carbon Dioxde is emitted into the atmosphere from several sources. Since the oceans are warming, that would be the logical choice to explain the current emissions. If the current CO2 emissions were not happening then the black line of the graph would continue down to the survival threshold for vegetation – that’s about 150 ppm. Note that an equation is given for the black line. It is a quadratic suggesting a parabola. If y is put equal to 150 and the equation solved for x then we could obtain a figure for how long we would have had to the threshold. The current CO2 emissions are actually saving the planet. Who in their right mind would want to stop the current emissions?

Ian Bradford, a science graduate, is a former teacher, lawyer, farmer and keen sportsman, who is writing a book about the fraud of anthropogenic climate change.