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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Sdgla who wrote (1424491)11/8/2023 11:27:37 AM
From: Wharf Rat3 Recommendations

Recommended By
Eric
pocotrader
ralfph

  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 1578342
 
CO2 is just a trace gas
Posted on 30 August 2011 by Sarah


CO2 makes up 390 ppm (0.039%)* of the atmosphere, how can such a small amount be important? Saying that CO2 is "only a trace gas" is like saying that arsenic is "only" a trace water contaminant. Small amounts of very active substances can cause large effects.

Some Examples of Important Small Amounts:
  • He wasn't driving drunk, he just had a trace of blood alcohol; 800 ppm (0.08%) is the limit in all 50 US states, and limits are lower in most other countries).
  • Ireland isn't important; it's only 660 ppm (0.066%) of the world population.
  • That ibuprofen pill can't do you any good; it's only 3 ppm of your body weight (200 mg in 60 kg person).
  • The Earth is insignificant, it's only 3 ppm of the mass of the solar system.
  • Your children can drink that water, it only contains a trace of arsenic (0.01 ppm is the WHO and US EPA limit).
  • Ozone is only a trace gas: 0.1 ppm is the exposure limit established by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends an ozone limit of 0.051 ppm.
  • A few parts per million of ink can turn a bucket of water blue. The color is caused by the absorption of the yellow/red colors from sunlight, leaving the blue. Twice as much ink causes a much stronger color, even though the total amount is still only a trace relative to water.
"Traces" of CO2 Although percentage is a convenient way to talk about the amount of gas in the atmosphere, it only tells how much is there relative to everything else; percentage doesn’t give an absolute amount.

For example, you have trouble breathing on top of Mount Everest even though the atmosphere still contains 21% oxygen just like at sea level. The percentage isn't important, you need a certain number of oxygen molecules with each breath, regardless of how much or little they are diluted by inert gases. At an altitude of 8000 m the whole atmosphere is diluted.

The total number of CO2 molecules above our heads in the atmosphere is more important than their percentage in the atmosphere. If the amount of inert nitrogen gas (N2) in the atmosphere were to be cut in half then the percentage of CO2 would jump (to about 600 ppm; 0.06%) without a change in the absolute amount of CO2 and no substantial change in the energy balance of the Earth. Adding a huge number of energy-absorbing CO2 molecules to the atmosphere doesn’t change its percent number very much, only because it's being added to a vast inert N2 background.



We know the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased because we have measured it. We know the climate has warmed from current and historical data. The link between increasing greenhouse gases and increasing temperature is clear: just as ink makes water more colored, CO2 makes the atmosphere more absorbing. The extra CO2 in our atmosphere is trapping energy that would otherwise escape to space. The measured global warming matches closely with the amount of energy trapped from the greenhouse gases added to the atmosphere.

A doubling of the trace molecule CO2 from 280 ppm to 560 ppm is still a trace, but just like with arsenic, the difference between a small trace and a larger trace is fatal.

* To convert ppm to percentage divide by 10,000.



To: Sdgla who wrote (1424491)11/8/2023 12:09:11 PM
From: golfer721 Recommendation

Recommended By
Maple MAGA

  Respond to of 1578342
 
Yeah thats why i no longer engage with Eric. He doesnt debate in good faith. Time waster



To: Sdgla who wrote (1424491)11/8/2023 3:52:39 PM
From: Land Shark1 Recommendation

Recommended By
pocotrader

  Respond to of 1578342
 
That's a lie that humans are responsible for 3%



To: Sdgla who wrote (1424491)11/8/2023 5:02:10 PM
From: Tenchusatsu2 Recommendations

Recommended By
denizen48
Eric

  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 1578342
 
Sdgla,
These guys like Eric are mathematically illiterate.
Speak for yourself. From the tweet:
CO2 is 0.04% of the atmosphere, and human beings are responsible for 3% of that 0.04%
3% of 400 PPM (the current level of atmospheric CO2) is 12 PPM.

In 1960, CO2 levels were at 320 PPM. That means over the past 60 years, CO2 rose by 80 PPM.

Is this guy claiming that only 12 out of that 80 PPM were caused by humans, and that the other 68 PPM was due to "natural causes"?

I'm no fan of climate alarmism, but I'm also no fan of people who can't do math.

And I'm definitely no fan of people who can't do math, think they can, and claim that others can't do math.

Tenchusatsu