My Conservative friends here, I have been troubled for some time about a personal problem with our differing ideologies.
My conscience bothers me some: time to make an admission to all here!
You see, I am firmly committed to a greener earth! I am a Rabid True "Greenie"
I hope that none will think ill of me, after I make I make my few short points here.
Al Gore is correct: Carbon Dioxide ( CO2. or CO2) is most important in our world! The EPA is correct as well, CO2 important!
I love all things green! We've recently purchased a home in the forest, to be closer to nature. The tall trees, squirrels, deer and so on are a joy to behold.
Especially, we love all the green stuff. Wonder where all the green stuff comes from?
A little research finds that the color comes from "Chlorophyll", a compound critical in photosynthesis,
Photosynthesis is critical to nearly all life on earth! It seems that photosynthesis is a process that converts CO2 into organics, using the energy from sunlight. Pretty neat huh? So all the leaves, branches tree trunks, tomatoes and stuff are made from CO2. So, then, are all the bunnies that eat the stuff. As are the damned squirrels that get into everything .
Photosynthesis is nature's solar panels, capturing sunlight and converting it to chemically stored energy! Who needs Solyndra?
Some water is needed a well, of course. It has been known that growing plants without soil, by just keeping the plant's feet wet, has been known since the hanging gardens of Babylon in 600 BC. Before that, actually. Keep plants feet wet, add air and presto!
By weight, Carbon (C) is about 85% of a piece of dry wood! Since C doesn't come from the water, it must come from the CO2. in the air! Gee, what's that mean? How much CO2. is the "right" amount? Studies show that most plants grow 3-5 times as fast by weight, with just double the atmospheric CO2. Assuming they get enough sunlight, water and bit of other stuff, of course.
Too much CO2. can be dangerous! At 1% concentration, it will make some people feel drowsy. That's about 255 times today's levels!
Are we presently starving our world of CO2.? It seems so.
Back in the time of dinosaurs, the Carboniferous period, CO2. levels were about 5 times what they are today! Back in the times of giant ferns, trees and fantastic growth on this earth! The very term "Carboniferous" means "coal forming" Much of the Earth's atmospheric C became sequestered in this way, forming coal and oil. Should we not release more CO2 for a more vibrant, more productive, more beautiful world?
So, what is the Real Green Movement? Those who would starve all things green even more, or those who would increase the availability of this presently limited and most essential element?
Al Gore and the EPA have it exactly backwards, you see! They wish to harm the world...not only the American economy. Without CO2, the world would die.
So I invite all here to join me in the Real Green Movement! Burn lots of coal, and oil. Burn wood in your fireplaces! Have campfires, bonfires. And call all your friends, your Congressman, your Senators. Get them to join the Real Green Movement!
Our world is Starving for Carbon Dioxide! Pass the word!
Become a True Greenie! Burn more stuff!
Tags: CO2, Carboniferous, coal, greenie, oil
Permalink Reply by Lois K. Knoffer on Vern - you rabid tree hugger! ! You failed to mention that all our greenie stuff needs the co2 and then PRODUCES
the O2, yes Oxygen that is needed to sustain LIFE! ! ! What a magnificent, brilliant engineer that put all this wonderful
world together for us to care for and enjoy! ! !
Permalink Reply by Scott Casteel on Permalink Reply by Jim Hoff on I once had an idiot greenie tell me, "yea, but they're all young trees...."
Permalink Reply by Victoria Knox on Permalink Reply by Gerald Smith on Permalink Reply by James W Burnham on Permalink Reply by Dave Mason on 
Permalink Reply by David J Edwards on If the Antarctic ice cap melted, the oceans would rise between 5 and 20 feet... most near the equator due to centrifugal force; least near the poles.
Whatever else happened... Say good-bye to New Orleans. LA, San Fran and NYC would be like Venice, Italy and most of Florida would be great for shallow salt water fishing.
Vern skipped another kind of beneficial Carbon-Oxygen molecule... Ozone... CO3. If we could confine it to the Ionosphere, we could have safer sun tans, less skin cancer, and prettier Northern Lights. Unfortunately, we might also have slightly longer growing seasons (1 or 2 weeks).
Ozone is also being used in medical treatments now. It is a wonderfully cheap therapy against difficult bacterial infections. We need to capture and bottle it for use.
Permalink Reply by Billy Bowlegs on You have not considered the polar reversal scenario. We have dwindling gravity on the earth and have compensated by adjusting "time" over time to compensate for slow down. Polar reversal would constitute a stopping of the earth spin. Think of a bath tub full of water in the back of your pickup truck. Slam on brakes - the water breaks through the back truck window and drowns the driver. If a Polar Reversial occurs, the earth stops and the Atlantic Ocean (bath tub) sloshes onto the US OF A, The Pacific Sloshes onto China, and Africa. There is enough water to wash all the way across and into the Pacific from the Atlantic. You go with it. Then the earth, one or two days later, rotates in the oposite direction. Some of the remaining water rushes in the opposite direction.
Not much of us left at that time. And the ones that are left are soggy. There are enough signs and events that indicate this theory should be more of a concerrn than Al Gore's global warming. Except, hell yes, the earth is going to get hot if this happens. Simply because a Solar Flare would have happened to have cause this clamity. Not AL GORE's idea of "We the People" farting too many times.
Permalink Reply by David J Edwards on Billy,
Please be wary of the flood of crackpot science out there. Magnetic polar shifts are nothing new or rare on earth. Mostly they mess up small animals and bugs that have microscopic amounts of iron in their heads to help them navigate against the pull of the earth's magnetic fields.
The magnetic poles have shifted MANY times with little effect on the biosphere. It's all recorded in the fossil rocks, especially in the mid-Atlantic ridge. Those shifts are being used as (fake) evidence of the earth's actual poles (axis of rotation) moving.
Horsefeathers.
Hack book sellers are making a fortune selling scary fairy tails about Armegeddon everywhere we turn. They are just like Al Gore, getting rich selling alarmism instead of science. That wee small hours radio show "Coast-to-Coast AM" has a number of the baloney salesmen as guests.
Yes. I studied geology, paleontology, anthropology zoology, and botany in high school and college plus oceanography in Jr. High school, and I began studying astronomy as a hobbyist in the early '60s. I laugh but shake my head at the doomsday book and movie buyers. They make me wonder about humanity.
True. one day, the earth will be destroyed... consumed by the Sun as it cools and expands... in about 6 million years.
You and I won't be very upset about it when it happens.
Permalink Reply by Vickie Cannon on @ Joanna J. I would agree that we need to monitor air quality, but this article was about CO2 - an essential building block and natural bi-product of nature. I didn't read anything about pesticides or dropping pollution regulations. And as for the increase in asthma, I think it wise to consider all the potential causes of increased health risks. Just because smoke irritates asthmatics doesn't mean it causes asthma. Remember that our food has been nearly sterilized because of over-processing, Americans rarely get enough exercise and we spend too much time in 'controlled environments' where the air inside buildings can make you sick a hundred different ways. Maybe those factors are creating some of these increases in health problems. Another example of poor logic on health issues is reducing sun exposure because of an increase in skin cancer. Now we are all vitamin D deficient! Skin cancer wasn't a problem 100 years ago and I don't think the sun has changed that much. Must be something else. Certainly we need to weigh health effects, but let's not assume causes and effects and let's not create 'solutions' that just make problems somewhere else.
Permalink Reply by Mary Matlin on I understand what you're saying, Vickie, but I thing what Joanna J is getting at is that we can't just look at CO2 as the only bi-product on burning fossil fuels. If it was, then this would be a much simpler subject.
The research showing higher numbers of children with asthma in areas downwind from coal power plants and the resulting particulates is solid.
So is the research showing developmental damage to children from the mercury emissions from the same plants.
"Cancer Alley" in Louisiana shows us the same patterns.
We're bee keepers and quite concerned about CCD (Chronic Collapse Disorder) that's happening in the industry. What they've found in Europe is that this has been caused by sub-lethal doses of pesticides and when they banned these pesticides, the bee populations rebounded.
1/3 of our food is pollinated by flying insects and bats. 80% of those are bees. That means 1/4 of our food will disappear if the bees do.
I agree we have to look at everything, but we can't close our minds to the real causes when they are identified.
We can't just believe the science that makes our lives easy and disbelieve that which we don't want to hear.
I swear, some of the people here are so ignorant that they scare me. Let the coastlines flood?
© 2013 Created by Judson Phillips.
