During Earth's first
one billion years,
large amounts of CO2
are believed to
have been outgassed
from volcanoes.
During Earth's
past 3.5 billion years,
99.5% of the carbon
in that CO2,
was sequestered
in carbonaceous
rocks, and fossil fuels.
Burning fossil fuels
for energy
uses "carbon"
sequestered
underground,
that had previously been
in the atmosphere, as CO2,
"recycling" that
underground "carbon",
back into the atmosphere,
as CO2 again !
This reversed the downward trend
of CO2 in the atmosphere, which
is long-term good news for our planet.
More CO2 in the atmosphere ensures
the long-term continuation of life.
We have decent estimates
of atmosphere CO2 levels
going back 600 million years.
Estimates become more accurate
as they get closer to the present.
The best estimate of CO2 in the air
540 million years ago is 7,000 ppm,
There is a large margin of error
with that estimate.
All life on Earth is is carbon based.
The main source of the carbon
is carbon dioxide in the air.
18,000 to 20,000 years ago,
at the peak of the last major
glaciation, the atmospheric
CO2 level was about 180 ppm,
based on Antarctica ice core
studies.
That was the lowest estimated
CO2 level ever -- low enough
to stunt plant growth.
As CO2 falls below 150 ppm,
C3 plants begin dying
from CO2 starvation.
There has been a gradual loss
of CO from the atmosphere,
in the past 550 million years,
to the lowest estimated level,
18,000 to 20,000 years ago.
That was a 98% reduction
of the staff of life on this planet,
CO2.
Some people claim that
massive volcanism, something
that hasn't happened in
200 million years, would have
reversed the long-term CO2 decline
( they claim man made CO2 emissions
were not necessary to do that ).
But Earth’s interior has cooled a lot
over the past 4.5 billion years,
making massive volcanism less likely.
A few million more years,
with the same rate
of CO2 decline,
would have started
killing life on our planet,
as carbon was sequestered
in deep ocean sediments.
Past human CO2 emissions
have been good news
for our planet.
There is no evidence
of bad news, and no one
has been hurt by more CO2
in the air.
For over three billion years,
life on Earth was unicellular,
microscopic, and in the oceans.
All life on Earth is carbon based.
The source of this carbon is CO2.
Insufficient CO2 in the atmosphere
and hydrosphere ( water ) would end
life as we know it on our planet.
The original source of atmospheric
CO2 may have been massive
volcanic eruptions, a long tome ago.
The extreme heat in volcanoes
caused oxidation of carbon
in Earth’s interior, to form CO2.
Today, CO2 is only 0.041%
of the atmosphere.
Much CO2 has been absorbed
by the oceans, where it provides
the food for species such as
phytoplankton and kelp.
Most of the carbon absorbed
from the atmosphere, by plants,
has been lost in deep deposits
of fossil fuels, and carbonaceous
rock (minerals), such as chalk,
limestone, marble, and dolomite.
Most sequestered carbon is in
carbonaceous rock.
The amount of CO2 emitted from
volcanic activity is unknown.
The evolution of wood into
a rigid stem, allowed plants to
place their photosynthetic
structures higher, and
closer to the sun.
The Devonian Period had
the spread of vast forests of
tree ferns, trees and shrubs,
versus only low-lying vegetation,
before that "woody era".
The huge increase of biomass
absorbed a lot of CO2 from the air
( wood is almost 50% carbon ).
CO2 levels continued to drop
for the next 80 to 100 million years,
into the mid-Carboniferous Period,
until they reached about 400 ppm,
almost identical to today.
During this era, CO2 levels were
reduced by about 90%.
Many large coal deposits
were formed during this period.
Coal deposits formed as trees died
and fell into huge swamps, eventually
buried by deep sediments, and
converted to coal by heat and
pressure ... or
Dead trees in forests piled up on top
of one another, and new trees grew
on a thickening layer of dead trees,
until the dead trees were buried, and
heat and pressure converted them into coal.
The second alternative assumes
bacteria, fungi and insects at the time
could not digest wood.
The end of the Carboniferous period,
and beginning of the Permian, had a
reversal of the CO2 downward trend.
Over the next 125 million years,
CO2 rose to about 2,500 ppm
in the Jurassic Period.
In the past 140 million years,
CO2 levels gradually fell
to what is likely to be
the lowest level ever.
Vostok Station ice cores
in Antarctica indicate about
180 ppm, at peak glaciation,
18,000 to 20,000 years ago,
Most plant species
used for food
( C3 plants )
begin to starve
as CO2 levels fall
below 150 ppm.
The decline of CO2
from 2,500 ppm,
to 180ppm,
was a 92.8% decline.
The most likely cause
of the CO2 downtrend
was CaCO3 deposition
from plankton and
coral reefs in
marine sediments.
During the major glaciations,
cooling oceans would have
also absorbed additional CO2.
At 180 ppm, many plant species
used for food would have had
stunted growth.
The atmosphere today,
at about 410 ppm CO2,
contains about 2% of carbon,
compared with the oceans,
which contain about 98%.
Total carbon stored
in carbonaceous rocks,
all or most of which
came from CO2 in the air,
is roughly 2,600 times larger
than total CO2 in the air.
We can measure the
CO2 increase in the air.
Some of the increase may be from
outgassing from the warming oceans ,
rather than from human-caused emissions.
There is no agreement on that theory.
Some people believe volcanic activity
causes huge CO2 emissions.
Not true in modern times.
The Mount Pinatubo eruption,
the largest in recent history,
released CO2 that was
only 2% of annual man made
fossil fuel CO2 emissions.
For 90 million years, from the
late Jurassic Period to the
Early Tertiary Period,
global temperature rose
considerably, while CO2
levels steadily declined.
After the Paleocene-Eocene
Thermal Maximum, there was
a 50-million-year cooling trend !
The Paleocene-Eocene
Thermal Maximum
had a global temperature
as much as +16°C higher
than today !
The ancestors of every species
living today must have survived
through that hot period.
So, predictions of mass species extinction
if the average global temperature exceeds
a rise of +2 degrees C. above today’s level,
seem incredibly stupid, after the
average global temperature rose
as much as +16 degrees C.,
in the past.
When Earth warmed
in the past, the Arctic
and Antarctica
had a lot of warming,
with much less
warming in the tropics.
The tropical regions
didn't change that much,
even as polar regions
changed to a temperate
climate, or even to a
tropical climate.
The coldest periods
during major glaciations
have had the lowest
CO2 levels in the air.
That suggests a relationship
between CO2 and temperature.
But there is disagreement
over which is the cause,
and which is the effect.
Here's a good answer:
Milankovitch 100,000-year cycles
could cause changes to the global
temperature, due to changes in solar
radiation, caused by changes
in planetary geometry.
Climate change, from
changes in solar energy,
could also cause
CO2 outgassing from,
or absorption into,
the oceans.
But Milankovitch cycles
could not directly affect
atmospheric CO2 levels.
Both sets of ice core data
from Antarctica show that
changes in temperature
usually precede
changes in CO2 levels,
by hundreds of years,
strongly suggesting
temperature changes
are the CAUSE of changes
to the CO2 level.
The CO2 increase
from a pre-industrial
280ppm, to 410ppm today,
has no logical explanation,
other than man made
CO2 emissions.
That's not scientific proof, just a
very reasonable assumption
Since the Little Ice Age's coldest period,
in the 1690s, as measured in England,
the climate has been intermittently
warming, by +2 to +3 degrees C.
The most recent warming, mainly from
1975 to early 2003, could be a continuation
of the warming trend since the 1690s,
or something new -- man made CO2 warming.
Simply declaring it MUST have been
man made warming, does not make it so !
Elevating CO2 levels especially benefit
those C3 plants adapted to dry climates
-- they will grow faster without needing
more water.
An experimental forest in Germany
has had a continuous record
of forest growth since 1870.
Since 1960, with rising CO2 levels,
the growth rate of individual trees
has increased by 32% to 77%.
Some of the growth increase may be due
to the slight increase in temperature
since 1960, but the much higher growth rate
is similar to controlled laboratory studies,
where temperatures were kept constant
Greenhouse operators worldwide inject
additional CO2 into their greenhouses,
for growth rate increases up to +40%.
The next major glaciation
could begin at any time.
It would make sense
to learn how
to ice skate now,
if you live in Canada !
Interglacial periods have generally been
about 10,000 years long.
The Holocene inter-glacial,
that we currently live in
began at least
10,00 years ago,
up to 12,000 years ago,
depending on who you ask.
It could end tomorrow, or in
1,000 years -- no one knows.
But the end of the interglacial
is serious climate change
that people will notice,
without thermometers,
or bellowing leftists,
and they won't like it.
The current interglacial
should be celebrated.
A global average
temperature change
of +1 degree,
or +2 degrees C.,
over one century,
or two, is harmless.
In the 78 years since the
"age of man made
CO2 emissions" began,
in roughly 1940,
the temperature is
up +0.6 degrees
in 78 years
( using UAH
weather satellite
data after 1979 ),
which is a
warming trend
of only
+0.77 degrees
per century.
Anyone who studies
past climate change,
in the 78 years
while man made CO2
is increasing,
has no logical reason
to fear climate change
in the next 78 years, or ever,
and become so fearful
that they supports a roll-back
of the industrial age.
Remember, the coming climate
change crisis has been "coming"
for over 60 years, according
to the scary predictions,
but the climate keeps getting
better instead !
There comes a time
to stop listening to
climate change
scaremongering,
and start enjoying
the mild climate.
That time was 20 years ago,
but it's never to late to throw
that fake boogeyman in the
trash bin, and wait for
leftists to invent a new
boogeyman -- even better
than DDT, acid rain,
the hole in the ozone layer,
and global cooling
-- remember those ?
They "disappeared",
after they stopped
scaring people.