Get Ahead Of The Learning Curve On Global Warming – CO2 Is Permanent Because It’s Indestructible And CO2 Doesn’t Stop Causing Harm
Fossil fuel that hasn’t been used has no affect on the atmosphere, oceans, glaciers, etc. Fossil fuel contains a lot of carbon. When fossil fuel is burned for energy, the carbon in fossil fuel combines with oxygen in the air creating NEW CO2 – CO2 that never existed before.
New CO2 vs Old CO2
The CO2 created when burning fossil fuel is NEW CO2. The word "new" is important because it recognizes that newly created CO2 is CO2 added to the atmosphere. CO2 that is not new, old CO2, has existed in the atmosphere for billions of years. The level of old CO2 in the atmosphere insulates the Earth from excessive temperatures. If there was no CO2 in the atmosphere at all, the average temperature on Earth would be zero degrees Fahrenheit. But adding new CO2 to the old CO2 causes too much CO2 in the atmosphere which over insulates the Earth – it’s like wearing heavy winter clothing all day every day no matter the temperature inside or outside. The planet Venus has too much CO2 in the atmospshere and has an average temperature of 900 degrees.
Greenhouse Effect and Earth’s Average Temperature (.gov)History and Sources Of Fossil Fuel (.gov)
CO2 Is Essentially Indestructible
CO2 is essentially indestructible by man made technology. Even if you split CO2 with a laser torch, it creates C and CO. C is carbon and CO is carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas. CO2 is currently not safely storable either. So technology at this time is not able to help, stop, nor reverse global warming. The technology need is a highly efficient catalyst that separates carbon from oxygen.
In nature, photosynthesis dismantles CO2 by combining CO2 with water to create glucose and oxygen. Much of the glucose is used to make the starch, fats, protein, and wood of plants. When a plant (or animal eating a plant) burns glucose for energy, glucose is broken back down into its original parts – CO2 and water, releasing CO2 back into the atmosphere. When plants die the starch, fats, and protein degrade into component parts releasing CO2 into the atmosphere. So in nature, photosynthesis is not able to help stop nor reverse global warming, plants only temporarily store CO2.
Photosynthesis ChemistryGlobal Warming and New CO2
Because factually too much CO2 starts global warming and because CO2 created from fossil fuel is new CO2 and because CO2 is indestructible, new CO2 is permanent and continually harmful to the environment. Current technology can not reduce the level of CO2 in the atmosphere and therefore every day CO2 is released into the atmosphere puts us in greater irreversible danger. In other words, new CO2 doesn't go away (indestructible), continues to accumulate in the environment, and even if we stop creating new CO2, the new CO2 already in the environment won't stop causing harm (abnormal warming). Every day of more new CO2 is a day we're not going to get back, pushing us closer and closer to the runaway greenhouse effect. There is only one solution for getting rid of new CO2 - a highly effective catalyst that separates carbon from the oxygen in carbon dioxide (separates C from O2). No one knows what that catalys is, so obviously we need to stop adding more new CO2.
Why CO2 Causes Global Warming
The energy of sunlight heats up darker colored surfaces on the Earth (not unlike a microwave oven heats food) more than lighter colors, and sunlight reflects off lighter colored surfaces on the Earth’s surface and heads back into outer space more than darker colors. When sunlight heats the Earth’s surface, much of the heat escapes and warms the environment.
Sunlight does not pass though CO2 molecules and instead bounces off CO2 molecules. In order for sunlight that has been reflected off the Earth’s surface to reach outer space it has to pass between the CO2 molecules in the atmosphere.
When sunlight reflected off the Earth’s surface hits a CO2 molecule it heads back to Earth for a second time increasing the chance it will be absorbed by a darker color. Some CO2 is needed in the atmosphere to keep the Earth surface heated to a livable temperature. Without CO2 in the atmosphere, the average temperature on Earth would be zero degrees Fahrenheit (-18 Celsius). Because sunlight doesn’t pass through CO2 and instead reflects off CO2, too much CO2 causes too much sunlight to be reflected back to Earth and absorbed by darker colors – this is the exact core problem causing global warming.
Essentially CO2 acts as a blanket for the Earth. But too much CO2 keeps the Earth’s environment warmer than normal. As CO2 is artificially added (machinery burning fossil fuels) to the environment, the blanket gets thicker and thicker. (As you can see the problem is global over warming, not global warming.)
Not Answers For Global Warming
Some propaganda scientists say we can dump all the CO2 we want into the Carbon Cycle. It’s false and absurd. The carbon cycle is the movement of carbon atoms back and forth between land, atmosphere, and oceans. The carbon cycle didn’t develop over billions of years with factories, power plants, and cars releasing billions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Many say the CO2 created by burning fossil fuels is safely used by plants. This is only temporary – Plants use CO2 to make sucrose which removes CO2. When the sucrose is used by the plant or by the animal eating the plant, biochemistry of the plants and animas break sucrose down into CO2 (and water and oxygen). Trees do store CO2 but when trees die, CO2 is released during decay. Trees are a part of what was a normal healthy environment (the carbon cycle), burning of fossil fuels are not.
Many say CO2 is used by shell fish (clams, mussels, oysters, winkles, and scallops, shrimp, prawn, lobster, crayfish, crabs, etc.). A very small percentage of CO2 is used by shell fish.
Many say CO2 is absorbed by the oceans without harming the oceans. This is not true. Adding CO2 to water lowers pH. The bubbles of soda are bubbles of CO2, which is why the pH of soda is very low – about 4.5. The pH of water is 7, seawater between 7.5 and 8.4. Realize that if the pH of oceans lowers too much, shellfish won’t be able to form shells because low pH disintegrates shells.
As Oceans Absorb More CO2 Than normal They Become More AcidicAcidifying Oceans Increasing Urgency To Cut CO2
Airborne CO2 Increasing
Finally a small amount of the CO2 created is absorbed into soil – which will become fossil fuel in a few million years. It’s absurd to think the Earth can tolerate global warming for a few million years.
As the Earth’s environment continues to warm, eventually the runaway green house affect will start. The runaway green house affect is a point in the warming of the environment where humidity worldwide increases which will further warm the environment which creates more humidity. Eventually the environment becomes so warm plant life can’t survive, making farming impossible which will end all animal life.
No More CO2 Necessary
According to NASA, “Only zero emissions [of CO2 and other greenhouse gases] can prevent a warmer planet.”
Quote from NASA (nasa.gov)In Summary
Fossil fuel before being used for energy (burned) has no affect on the environment and therefore fossil fuel is nature’s natural, safe storage material for massive amounts of carbon. Burning fossil fuel releases the carbon in fossil fuel into the atmosphere where it combines with oxygen creating CO2. CO2 adversely affects the environment in two ways: 1) An increase in the number of CO2 molecules in the atmosphere increases the number of solar rays bouncing off CO2 molecules and back to Earth increasing the number of solar rays absorbed by darker colors on the Earth’s surface 2) Oceans absorb CO2 in the atmosphere, increasing CO2 lowers pH making the oceans more acidic which destroys ocean life and coral. Since CO2 is indestructible, creating CO2 is a permanent destructive addition to the environment. CO2 doesn’t go away and CO2 doesn’t stop causing harm.
