Pure carbon dioxide is lethal in the sense that you suffocate. Carbon monoxide is lethal for complicated reasons (it substitutes itself for oxygen on the hemoglobin molecule).
I think the lesson is that carbon dioxide is necessary. What that means is some carbon dioxide is good, too much is bad.
The same applies in the atmosphere. Water vapor is far and away the most important greenhouse gas, but it cycles in a period of weeks, so no matter how much water we put in the atmosphere we just get it back. The cycle time for carbon dioxide is thousands of years is not more, so when we put it in the atmosphere it stays there and accumulates. Although the amounts we put in are small compared to the amounts already present, the increase has immediate effects in causing the earth to hold more heat and warm up, again by just a small amount (a few degrees). Add to that the warming effect of methane produced by domestic animals and we are putting ourselves in danger.
The risks can and are sometimes overstated and exaggerated for political purposes (Al Gore is one of the worst here and his behavior in discrediting genuine concerns with his exaggeration of it for his personal purposes disgusts me).
But he is not the only one playing political games with the fate of mankind. While I don't expect extinction of humanity, if what is happening goes on we are likely to have a severe century or longer setback in human progress, just to cover the costs rising sea levels will cause.
I am hopeful technology will save us. Fusion, better fission reactors, solar, wind, carbon dioxide capture technologies, greater efficiencies in energy use, and other things may or may not arrive in time. In the meantime measures like taxing gasoline more, removing the oil depletion allowance (a hidden subsidy for the oil industry), maybe a carbon tax, taking a more reasonable approach to nuclear plants, and scores of other measures that could be taken would all improve the eventual outcome.
I think the lesson is that carbon dioxide is necessary. What that means is some carbon dioxide is good, too much is bad.
The same applies in the atmosphere. Water vapor is far and away the most important greenhouse gas, but it cycles in a period of weeks, so no matter how much water we put in the atmosphere we just get it back. The cycle time for carbon dioxide is thousands of years is not more, so when we put it in the atmosphere it stays there and accumulates. Although the amounts we put in are small compared to the amounts already present, the increase has immediate effects in causing the earth to hold more heat and warm up, again by just a small amount (a few degrees). Add to that the warming effect of methane produced by domestic animals and we are putting ourselves in danger.
The risks can and are sometimes overstated and exaggerated for political purposes (Al Gore is one of the worst here and his behavior in discrediting genuine concerns with his exaggeration of it for his personal purposes disgusts me).
But he is not the only one playing political games with the fate of mankind. While I don't expect extinction of humanity, if what is happening goes on we are likely to have a severe century or longer setback in human progress, just to cover the costs rising sea levels will cause.
I am hopeful technology will save us. Fusion, better fission reactors, solar, wind, carbon dioxide capture technologies, greater efficiencies in energy use, and other things may or may not arrive in time. In the meantime measures like taxing gasoline more, removing the oil depletion allowance (a hidden subsidy for the oil industry), maybe a carbon tax, taking a more reasonable approach to nuclear plants, and scores of other measures that could be taken would all improve the eventual outcome.
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