More CO2 in the atmosphere
increases plant productivity
and growth.
Carbon dioxide is the primary
raw material ( "food" )
used by plants.
Thousands of laboratory
and field experiments
on hundreds of different
plant species, the more CO2
in the air = better plants grow:
Summary:
Full Report (over 1,000 pages):
Doubling the CO2 content
can raise the productivity
of most herbaceous plants
by about one-third and most
woody plants by around 50%:
Increased number of branches
and tillers, more and thicker leaves,
more extensive root systems,
and more flowers and fruit.
Many researchers have
acknowledged yield-enhancing
benefits rising CO2 levels.
Higher atmospheric CO2
is increased plant water
use efficiency.
Plant water use efficiency
is the amount of biomass
produced by a plant
per unit of water lost
via transpiration.
Plants exposed to elevated
levels of atmospheric CO2
do not open their leaf stomatal
pores as wide as they do
at lower CO2 concentrations.
The result is a reduction in
rates of water loss
by transpiration.
And the amount of carbon
they gain per unit of water lost
-- or water-use efficiency --
typically rises 70% to 100%,
for a doubling of CO2.
At higher atmospheric CO2
concentrations, plants need
less water to produce the same
-- or an even greater --
amount of biomass.
With elevated levels of CO2,
plants tend to become less
susceptible to drought, and
may be able to grow un areas
previously too dry for them
to exist.
Earth's terrestrial vegetation
is becoming more robust
in arid and droughty regions
as the air's CO2 concentration
rises.
Higher atmospheric CO2
also helps reduce detrimental
effects caused by stresses:
- High soil salinity,
- High air temperature,
- Low light intensity and
- Low levels of soil fertility.
The percentage growth
enhancement from CO2
is often greater under stressful
and resource-limited conditions
than it is when growing conditions
are optimal.
Plant productivity gains,
water use efficiency,
and 'greening' of the earth,
are all great benefits of
higher levels of CO2.
The approximate 45% increase
in atmospheric CO2 since the
beginning of the Industrial Revolution
is not enough -- plants want 800 ppm
CO2, not the current level of 415 ppm.
None of the apocalyptic predictions
of climate catastrophe have ever
come true.
They are all leftist fantasies.
Atmospheric CO2
is an aerial fertilizer,
not an airborne pollutant,.
Fossil energy enhances life.
The one billion people who live
without electricity desperately
need fossil fuels to improve
their lives.
Leftist environmentalists
could not care less.