Carbon Dioxide isn't here yet!

Atmospheric trace elements are often given more credit for climate change than they seem to deserve. Take the late 1960s and early 1970s when climatologists feared that a perceived increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) would thicken the earth's cloud layers, reflect warming sun light, and eventually cool the planet back into a major ice age. We affectionately called it the "carbon winter syndrome." Lots of clouds and little if any sunlight.

Today CO2 is said to be reaching 377 ppm when as recently as a hundred years ago it was down near 320 ppm. What does this mean? I asked the Scripps folks who are said to be the strongest in atmospheric research. At what point is CO2 too much? When does an increase in CO2 begin to benefit plant life and the food chain and agriculture worldwide? No-one knows, they say. No-one has extensively researched these questions.

We do know from our pot growing friends and from greenhouse agriculture, that high concentrations of CO2 spur growth in plants. CO2 is after all, plant food. Plants require lots of fertilizer and high amounts of hydration to grow fast and strong. So low levels of CO2 create a thirst by plants for fertilizer and water. Conversely, high CO2 levels reduce the plant's need for fertilizer, water, and insecticides and anti-fungal chemicals because plants grow stronger and more resistant to insects and fungi.

It gets better. Explosive plant growth strengthens the food chain. Plankton in the oceans grows faster to feed shrimp and other small fish who feed salmon who feed mammals such as whales and fish such as sharks. CO2 also strengthens fisheries to the point where the world would be awash with fresh and health omega 3 oil fish.

The Canadian version of the Environmental Protection Administration states on their website that if global worming takes, "Canada's agriculture will be a net winner" from higher CO2 concentrations. Plants grow faster, use less hydration, strengthen, and produce much more per acre. Trees benefit from as much as twice their normal yearly growth.

And Mother Earth? All this CO2 conversion creates more oxygen which provides for relief for asthma victims and probably increases sports records everywhere. Now who says that CO2 is a pollutant? Only those who will benefit from slower economic growth and from more enviro-extortions.