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Politics : Politics of Energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (70032)	5/15/2016 2:19:23 PM
From: Brumar89	1 Recommendation Recommended By Thomas A Watson Respond to of 86350

CO2 Reaches Tipping Point! *OMG it’s worse than we thought…. we are all going to have too much food* May 14, 2016 By Paul Homewood http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3586669/The-end-world-know-CO2-levels-reach-tipping-point-6-June-marking-milestone-global-warming.html We’re all going to die! From the Mail: 6 June may sound like an insignificant date to many, but it could mark a ‘tipping point’ in the world’s history, an expert has warned. An atmospheric measuring station at Cape Grim in Tasmania is expected to record a carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration of 400 parts per million (ppm) on or around this day – a significant number marking a climate change milestone. While 400ppm has been recorded before, the Tasmanian location is regarded as one of the cleanest air sources in the world, so such levels of pollution are said to be a real blow. The measure is an indicator of the amount of planet-warming gases being pumped into the atmosphere at record rates and the concentrations are the highest in millions of years. The measurements of 400ppm come almost three decades after what is considered the ‘safe’ level of 350ppm was passed. ‘Once it reaches 400ppm at Cape Grim it’s very unlikely to drop below 400 again,’ Dr Paul Fraser, a Fellow at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (Csiro) told Ninemsn. While the difference of 0.1ppm may seem trivial, the expert said it marks a ‘psychological tipping point’ in our battle against global warming. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3586669/The-end-world-know-CO2-levels-reach-tipping-point-6-June-marking-milestone-global-warming.html There is more drivel along these lines, but I was struck by this comment: Experts worry that when 400ppm becomes the norm, polluted and densely populated cities such as Beijing could record carbon figures as high as 700ppm, bring a lot of health concerns. Currently, the air surrounding a congested road is probably around 500ppm. Accompanied by this highly misleading photo, which attempts to conflate CO2 with smog: CO2 is invisible. Green propagandists think you're stupid. Experts worry that when 400ppm becomes the norm, polluted and densely populated cities such as Beijing (stock image) could record carbon figures as high as 700ppm, bring a lot of health concerns I am certainly not aware of any evidence that CO2 is any way harmful in to humans at these sort of levels. Obviously as CO2 is heavier than air, it can sink to the ground in confined spaces and lead to asphyxiation. But according to the Health & Safety Executive, CO2 is naturally present in the air we breathe at a concentration of about 0.037% and is not harmful to health at low concentrations. They go on to say: In GB, CO2 is classed as a ‘substance hazardous to health’ under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH). The HSE publication ‘ EH40/2005 Workplace exposure limits’ provides workplace exposure limits (WELs) for CO2. WELs are limits to airborne concentrations of hazardous substances in the workplace and are set in order to help protect the health of workers. Workplace exposure is calculated by taking an average over a specified period of time. The WELs for CO2 are: Long-term exposure limit (8-hr reference period) of 5000 ppm Short-term exposure limit (15 minute reference period) of 15000 ppm http://www.hse.gov.uk/carboncapture/carbondioxide.htm As with all HSE recommendations, they are doubtlessly well below realistic safe limits. There is also plenty of evidence that CO2 has many beneficial effects for the human body. According to the Normalbreathing website, having a normal level of CO2 in the lungs and arterial blood (40 mm Hg or about 5.3% at sea level) is imperative for normal health. Obviously most of this CO2 is that produced during respiration. Their view, however, is that many people actually hyperventilate, which leads to there being too little CO2 in the lungs. Either way, it is not clear why 700ppm should be in any way harmful. This all seems just a cheap attempt to reinforce the message that CO2 is dangerous pollution. https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2016/05/14/co2-reaches-tipping-point/ saveenergy permalink May 14, 2016 6:25 pm The following summarizes levels of CO2 under various conditions: 40,000 ppm: The exhaled breath of normal, healthy people. [ If you're a pothead exhaling marijuana smoke, it's even higher. ;>) ] 8,000 ppm: CO2 standard for submarines 2,500 ppm: CO2 level in a small hot crowded bar in the city [ In a house where a pothead is smoking weed, it's much higher. ;>) ] 1,000 to 2,000 ppm: Historical norms for the earth’s atmosphere over the past 550 million years 1,000 to 2,000 ppm: The level of CO2 at which plant growers like to keep their greenhouses 1,000 ppm: Average level in a lecture hall filled with students 600 ppm: CO2 level in my office with me and my spouse in it 490 ppm: CO2 level in my office working alone 400 ppm: Current average outdoor level of CO2 in the air (2016) 280 ppm: Pre-industrial levels in the air, on the edge of “CO2 famine” for plants 150 ppm: The point below which most plants die of CO2 starvation & just look at what CO2 has done to our Crops The Cereal Supply and Demand Brief provides an up-to-date perspective of the world cereal market http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/csdb/en/ OMG it’s worse than we thought…. we are all going to have too much food The CO2Science web site has a huge catalog of studies of the effects of CO2 on plant growth, here: http://www.cO2science.org/data/plant_growth/plantgrowth.php The studies show that nearly all plants benefit dramatically Moreover, there’s good evidence that many of those studies underestimate the benefit of elevated CO2: http://www.cO2science.org/subject/f/summaries/faceartifacts.php The first such study that I’m aware of was done nearly a century ago, in Germany. Scientific American wrote about it in 1920: http://tinyurl.com/1920sciamCO2