Solution to CO2 Pollution?

[Hoser John]

Experiment 'turns waste CO2 to stone' - BBC News

 

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[kcm]

It still cracks me up how so many folks think there's too much CO2 in the air now. Plants need CO2.

The more CO2, the more plants thrive.
The more plants thrive, the more they create oxygen.
The more they create oxygen, the more life flourishes.
The more life flourishes, the more things to die.
The more things live AND die, the more CO2.
It's a normal cycle.

 

[CaliGal]

Oh, yes, absolutely correct, kcm. But! When it happens more rapidly than Mother Nature (i.e., selective pressures & the resultant evolution) can adjust for, it can be a problem for vulnerable species with narrow niches or habitat ranges. And guess what! Large populations of the human species occupy lowland coastal habitats that may see inundation. Also, changing climate patterns could end up vastly shifting agricultural patterns. Imagine the U.S. without the agricultural power-houses that are the Central Plains or the California Central Valley! Will be an interesting future for our grandkids, at any rate!

 

[kcm]

Also keep in mind that historically speaking, we're at a fairly low level of CO2 from what the Earth's atmosphere has been. Are things changing? Yes.

Are humans to blame? Well, to a certain extent, yes. Much of what is happening, is happening due to natural cycles. Yes, mankind is aggravating the process. At the same time, I don't see any country in the world placing a ban on automobiles or power plants. However, the natural cycle going back many, many years consisted of what life here was like WITH a lot of ice in place. Yes, the ice is melting. Yes, mankind has SOME amount of effect on that. How much is debatable, and would inevitably delve into politics being thrown into the mix. I hate talking politics anyhow - almost as much as my wife hates me talking politics!

Anyway, the more the ice melts, the more rapidly it continues to melt. This is normal, basic physics. Another part of the problem is/has been the Ozone layer and CFC's, which allowed TREMENDOUS amounts of solar heat into the atmosphere.

But let's also not forget that there used to be MANY pools of petroleum sitting right on the surface of the ground. Also, lots just below the surface. The farther down one went, the more petroleum was there. Now there is a lot less. So what effect is that having on the environment? Wildfires can no longer spark pools of oil to burn for days/weeks/months. Volcanoes and other Earth hiccups and belches do not set off as many oil reserves into the atmosphere as they once did, as we have done it over a more regulated time frame.

There's so very much more to this story than anyone is saying - and that's because we (mankind) do not yet have all of the pieces to the puzzle in order to fully understand how the Earth works and how our actions have affected such workings. In other words, the debate can continue indefinitely, but there can be no real winner. Not yet, anyhow. Maybe one day we (science) will have enough understanding - but also keep in mind that much of the understanding we DO have is due to petroleum drilling. ...Which has gotten to be very 1-sided. So much so that other entities have done their own research, which is also very 1-sided; each side trying to promote their point.

Me? I'm stuck in the middle. I'll be long gone before the debate is even close to settled. My body is old and broken, and as long as we no longer have to rely on horse-n-buggy to make the 50-mile trip to town in the NW Minnesota snow, I'm sticking with my 4WD pickup!

 

[Tuberale]

I think a better solution for CO2 is planting trees, especially trees that grow rapidly. Trees can be made into charcoal, and charcoal can eliminate CO2 for quite some time.

 

[rodoconnor]

It still cracks me up how so many folks think there's too much CO2 in the air now. Plants need CO2.

The more CO2, the more plants thrive.
The more plants thrive, the more they create oxygen.
The more they create oxygen, the more life flourishes.
The more life flourishes, the more things to die.
The more things live AND die, the more CO2.
It's a normal cycle.

You beat me to it !

 

[austin]

Better listen to CaliGal fellows. She obviously took advantage of the University education you can get in California and she knows what she is talking about. Signed, a 30 year science teacher in the schools of Texas with a fair to middling college education...

 

[Hard Prospector]

The Earth has been gradually warming since coming out of the last ice age just over 10,000 years ago. Has man's industrial ways in the past 100 years had any effect on this? Perhaps some.

Better to have it a bit warmer than colder considering in the last ice age, the ice sheet (over a mile thick) covered most of north america and extended as far south to nearly Texas!

 

[kcm]

Like I said, there are no wrong answers here. We do not have the capabilities to drill deep enough into the Earth in order to KNOW what all is going on down there. Personally, I think this Global Warming thing is a bunch of hogwash. Then again, I "have" been known to be wrong once or twice in my life. .....Ok, once!

 

[Hard Prospector]

Guess I'd better buy some more shorts and tank-tops. My lady hates the term "wife beaters"

 

[Hoser John]

hahahaha that'll teach me to try and educate, inform others of a new process/procedures keep drinkn' that kool aid please

 

[jcazgoldchaser]

hahahaha that'll teach me to try and educate, inform others of a new process/procedures keep drinkn' that kool aid please

HAHAHAHAAHA

Did you read the article that mentions how much water is needed for EACH ton of CO2?

 

[SaltwaterServr]

HAHAHAHAAHA

Did you read the article that mentions how much water is needed for EACH ton of CO2?

Yup. Grossly ineffective. Easier to seed iron dust at the equator of the Pacific in the tropic gyres and cause isolated plankton blooms that will fall into marine sediments.

 

[enamel7]

What gets me is the so called "scientists" out there say that CO2 causes the earth to warm, yet true scientists have taken ice core samples in the artic from the last ice age. Those samples contained elevated levels of CO2. Go figure.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Well I'm kind of on the fence with all this CO2 stuff. Still, I try to run the cleanest operation I can. Little to no carbon footprint thanks to solar power being used where ever possible. Still.... if the ice caps do melt and the water levels increase, then I just might end up with with a summer place on the Gulf of California as all the dams along the Colorado River go under water. Anyone up for some body surfing in Bullhead?

 

[Capt Nemo]

Consider Kilauea volcano. It's cranking out between 2500 to 7000 tons of sulphur dioxide a day. (CO2 isn't measured) The EPA is screaming about a coal plant that cranks out 230 tons of S02 a year.

Think of how much the 100+ erupting/offgassing volcanos are adding daily, and it quickly adds up to way more than man could ever produce.

 

[kcm]

For every scientific report saying one thing, there's a scientific report saying the opposite. Only time can settle the argument - and even then, only until it's convenient to have the argument again (ie. something to be gained).

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

So have I

 

[Mad Machinist]

Human caused Globull Warming is exactly that, bullchit!! And this comes from someone with a Bachelor's and well on my way to a Master's in Environmental Science.

And any species that occupies a small niche or is dependent upon a single species for food is just on good disease away from extinction. That is Nature's way, adapt and diversify or die.

Sulfur dioxide is a hell of an aerosol. It does an incredible job of reflecting sunlight back out into space, so does dust. So with the Clean Air Act and the PM 10, 5, and 2.5 laws eliminating these aerosols, that sunlight is now reaching the surface instead of being reflected. So up goes the temp. Anybody that thinks I am joking can take a good look at what happened after Pinatubo popped it's top.

And another fun fact about aerosols is that they act as condensation nuclei. In other words, they cause clouds to form from water vapor condensing on them. No aerosols, no rain. No rain equals a super saturated atmosphere as far as water vapor goes. And water vapor is a far more potent "greenhouse gas" than either CO2 or methane.

 

[Capt Nemo]

True with that! Kilauea will top 15,000 tons a day during a fountaining episode. Who knows how much Pinatubo popped out. 500 KT maybe?