It is good to have more CO2 released! Any comments?

Question

More CO2 in atmosphere helps increased global temp. and granted, some land will be lost to sea. But it also fosters the growth of healthy vegitation. Studies found that precisely high vegitation due to high CO2 is the cause for large bodies of the dinasours.

So, it is good to have global warming!??

Answer 1

You got it. Ever notice how the most lush forest in the world are in the hottest region? For those of you having a problem with this, it is the rain forest near the equator.

And being that hundreds of studies exist which show that higher concentrations of CO2 actually increase plant growth, a slightly warmer, higher CO2 concentration would help promote vegetation.

Answer 2

Higher temperatures and higher CO2 levels spur plant growth. Plants take in CO2 and emit Oxygen. CO2 levels drop. This ecosystem we call Earth is a closed system. It always achieves balance regardless of the changes made to it. Even something as powerful as a volcano or tsunami has only fleeting effect on the planet. People seem to forget that.

I do not see anyone calling for the changes that would really reduce CO2 levels on the planet. We need to work with nature. Here are a few suggestions:


Cut down about half of the old growth forests and replace them with new saplings. Old trees use barely use up any of the CO2 in the atmosphere. New trees, use huge amounts of CO2 and emit lots of Oxygen during the growth cycle. Far more than mature trees.

Clear out the rain forest floor and cut down many old trees thin out the forest. This removes all the rotting vegetation. Rotting vegetation is caused by dead vegetation being consumed by insects, fungus and molds. All of which emit CO2. In fact there is so much CO2 being emitted by these things in the Amazon that the ratio of Oxygen being produced vs CO2 emitted is pretty much a wash. Clear cutting select areas and allowing sunlight to pass through the thick overgrown canopy will greatly promote CO2 scrubbing and Oxygen generation.

These sorts of forest management techniques will also all but eliminate the damage done by wildfires by minimizing the dried out vegetation and debris on the forest floor. This will eliminate all the unwanted pollutants released when the forests burn.

As long as we use the wood we cut down to build with instead of burning, the Carbon locked up in the wood will stay locked up in the wood. Air quality in general will greatly improve.

Merry Christmas!

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Answer 3

Not really. Carbon dioxide is to plants what food is to us. If you have too much food you only eat what you need and leave the rest. The same is true with plants and CO2, they only absorb what they need. At the moment there is more than they need.

Increasing levels of CO2 does stimulate growth in some plants but it's by a disproportionate amount - i.e. a 100% increase in CO2 leads to a 10% increase in plant growth - provided that there is also an increase in the amount of water and sunlight available - the two other components essential for photosynthesis to take place.

As Crabby Blindguy has said, the notion that global warming is a good thing is just an excuse perpetrated by the skeptics and is just the latest in an ever changing stance adopted by them. I asked a question about this the other day...
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Aqz948unqaVR9crb0b1Sl1_sy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071215122453AAA3eZI

There are some positive benefits to global warming such as increased yields of certain crops, a decrease in cold related deaths and medical conditions, an increase in the availability of agricultural land in some places etc.

Every positive has a more pronounced corresponding negative. For example, whilst some crops will flourish there will be many more that fail leading to a net reduction in crop yield.

There are also many negative consequences that don't have a corresponding positive one, such as rising sea levels, the spread of disease, increased adverse weather events etc.

Answer 4

Plants need more than just CO2. Being freely available in the atmosphere, access to CO2 is the least of a plant’s problems. With this excess plant growth plants also require more nitrogen and phosphorous from soils. Where do they get that from?

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/312/5782/1918

Answer 5

Nature, the ecosystem, is in a constant state of flux. However, one thing we can depend upon is that whatever happens, be it global warming, extinction of certain species, or a global disaster, eventually, nature compensates returns to equilibrium. The ecosystem is a lot like the human body--always changing, but balancing back--hence the term "dynamic equilibrium."

So in reference to your question, as long as the temperature does not rise so high as to incinerate all life, rising temperatures too much of an impact in the big picture.

Answer 6

Wrong--by and large changing temperatures will kill off vegitation. What the apologists for the oil companies are doing this time is trying another tack--since they failed to convince people that science is nonsense, they are now paying their bloggers and posters to put out BS that "global warming is really a good thing."

To give you a specific example: in Glacier National Park, the melting of the glaciers has led to warmer temperatures. And--the forest is dying. The trees are adapted to a cold environment, and the sudden (a few decades) change has allowed parasites and diseases to attack and kill off the trees

Another example--the rise in ocean temperatures is killing off coral reefs. They form the base of the ecology in those ocean areas--so insome areas the plants are dying. And the fish that feed on the plants. And the fish that eat those fish.

Another example--thousands of years ago the Sahara desert was a rich savannah, home to large populations of animals. A climate shift increased the temperature of the region. Go and see how great that was for the local vegatation.

I trustI've made my point. PLEASE--stop helpling the special interests by repeating their lies and propaganda.

Answer 7

Plant life thrives on higher CO2 levels. An with a need for a greater food supply why lessen the food supply ?

Answer 8

it is good if CO2 will be released in plants but never in the atmosphere. it will cause intense warming that the vegetations you say will decay and i don't want some land to be swallowed by the sea. it is better to assure that the negative effects is not heavier compared to its positive effects

Answer 9

It is also good to release more CO2 from your body by exhaling a second longer than you inhale. We really don't need to inhale more O2 just exhale more CO2 to oxygenate our blood feel better and help increase vegetation on the planet. Hmm never thought breathing correctly could change the environment. All this time I just thought I was getting the toxins out of the lower part of my lungs. :)

Answer 10

it is not good to have global warming.
that "some land" that will be lost along the coastlines accounts for millions and millions of people that will have to move inland (think of all of the major cities around the world on the coast. yea there are a lot of them), it will cost the world unfathomable amounts of money for reconstruction and damages. it wont be worth growing extra plants if the result is widespread global depression and all that what not.
also, it wont necessarily lead to better crop production, because if the climate changes, it will lead to more severe and more common droughts and hurricanes and terrible weather, so that will end up killing most of the plants we try to grow