reply to post by DaMod
You're right, we live basically because of CO2.
CO2 allows plants to growth, which allow food to be produced either directly (vegetables and fruits) or indirectly (meat which was possible because of
plant food, and therefore of CO2).
The point of the news, though, is that with levels much higher than current atmospheric ones, plants will grow stronger, faster and more efficiently.
CO2 levels aren't really a problem as many want us to believe. It's quite the opposite instead. Higher level of carbon dioxide would benefit not
only plants, but the whole life on earth in many ways.
These are some of the real problems which many fail to see and to address:
- Deforestation (increased CO2 levels may help plants growth, but if we're removing them faster than they can reproduce, then it's clearly an
unsustainable situation)
- Decrease of floral and faunal biodiversity and/or destruction of whole ecosystems directly induced by human activity
- Inefficient and "dirty" use/combustion of hydrocarbons (not how much it's done, but *how* it's done)
- Landfills (or better, inefficient use of resources)
- Industrial and chemical waste (the *real* pollutants)
- Radioactive nuclear waste (although to tell the truth, today's nuclear waste will be able to fuel future nuclear fission power plants)
- Mountaintop removal mining (one of the most devastating things man can do)
- etc....
[edit on 2009/8/7 by Shirakawa]