How does carbon dioxide contribute to global warming? Why is it considered a pollutant?

Question

How does carbon dioxide contribute to global warming? Why is it considered a pollutant?

Answer 1

I think it's obsurd.  We breathe it out.

But, 'they' say it is if it is released in excess.  I would like to know the exact amount of 'excess' myself.

Answer 2

It doesn't contribute to "global warming" or even "global cooling."  CO2 is a harmless gas that feeds all plant-life.  

Carbon dioxide is less than 1% of the greenhouse layer and no one has proven any real connection to any type of climate change.

Politicians have been trying to classify it as a pollutant so they can tax it.  They may succeed.

Image that.  Taxing the air we breathe.  Pretty bold if they can pull it off.  There are a lot of gullible people who are fine with that notion.  We'll all have to pay for such ignorance.

Educate yourself so  you won't fall prey to their tactics.

Answer 3

Try it out in a room. You will know soon enough.

Answer 4

A pollutant is anything that is present in sufficient amount to be harmful.  Many pollutants are natural, not artificial.  

Examples

Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, Chromium, arsenic, strychnine, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, asbestos, to name a few.

Answer 5

I guess in a very short while we will see that H2O, meets or exceeds the criteria for a pollutant. Let's see; it's a GHG, a product of combustion, and extreme quantities can have a detrimental effect. I think the world has gone overboard with their definitions. It's not good science or good judicial discretion.

Answer 6

The effect of carbon dioxide on climate is negligible.  It is a greenhouse gas but it is at such a low level in the atmosphere that its effect is virtually undetectable.  More than 95% of the total of all greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is water vapour.

Answer 7

Considering carbon dioxide a pollutant is nothing more than an opinion. Carbon Dioxide is a naturally occurring gas that humans EXHALE!

Answer 8

The answers you seek can be found my friend at Junkscience.com! Co2 is not the enemy. At one point in the earths history oxygen was the "toxic" gas. It was everywhere, and many species died due to the lack of Co2. Gee I wonder what living organisms came about to take advantage of this new oxygen rich environment!

Answer 9

CO2 accounts for less than 5% of greenhouse gases with water vapour being a 95% contributer.

Of that 5%, humans account for less than 4% emitted. Do the math and you will relise how man-made global warming is false.

Answer 10

There is no proof that it contributes to global warming. Here's a nice little graph that shows CO2 rising with global temps varying and generally down.

Answer 11

CO2 absorbs infrared light, and then reemits it in all directions.

Sunlight striking the ground changes partly into infrared light (heat).  Some of that heat heads up back into space.  CO2 intercepts some, and reemits some back down to Earth.  In effect, it acts like a partial mirror.  That heats the Earth up more than the Sun would naturally, causing global warming.

"Pollutant" is a legal term meaning something that, in excess, is harmful.  The Supreme Court has determined that CO2 is a pollutant.  Since this is a legal matter, they get to decide the issue, and no one can overrule them.