..they claim that CO2 - which plants breathe - was killing the Earth....
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IIRC, plants take in CO2, and put out O2, nitrogen, and some other beneficial things. However, they can only handle so much, and the excess CO2 is what's causing the problems, due to the fact that we are pumping it out faster than the flora can deal with it.
Plants given supplemental CO2 grow faster and bigger. They have the capacity to take in much more CO2 than is available in our atmosphere. Anthropogenic CO2 is 3% of all that is in the air, meaning nature produces 33 times more than we do. Oh, and water vapor is immensely more powerful as a greenhouse gas than CO2. Should we blame the clouds? Gore's zigzag line graph explains it, he just didn't realize it. Basically, it's deforestation in the southern hemisphere causing his chart to rise, not production. But I do agree that we need to cut down on oil consumption. I need gas around when I retire so I can drive all my muscle cars!
Oh and jsonitsac, plants don't need oxygen at night...the roots need oxygen 24/7 but the rest of the plant takes in only CO2.
Erm, biology student here. Level of CO2 isn't the only limiting factor when it comes to rate of photosynthesis. Heat and light intensity can limit it too. Basically you can shove CO2 levels as high as you want but eventually the temperature and LI will prevent photosynthesis going any faster. Basically, the plants CAN'T get rid of all the extra CO2 we're producing. So stop polluting!
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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