Is increased CO2 a benefit?

Question

Read the following article.

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=300409593211234

This is the third article I've seen expressing the idea that not only is increased CO2 better for plants, but that it has been magnitudes higher in the past than it is right now.

So why are we so stressed about CO2 levels

Answer 1

It is true that if you take two identical plants and put one in an environment which only differs by having somewhat more CO2, that the one with the higher CO2 will probably do better.  

Unfortunately that is not the scenario that we're looking at.  The world we're making with increased CO2 will also have shifted rainfall patterns, so those areas that are now dry will probably become even drier, and some of those areas are our most productive agricultural lands.  

So while it's nice  for a plant to have more CO2, it's not going to grow any lusher, and perhaps not at all, if it doesn't have the water it needs.  I guess if you don't mind re-building trillions of dollars worth of infrastructure to deal with the changes in rainfall patterns then you shouldn't feel stressed.

Answer 2

Sure CO2 is a good thing if you like more major hurricanes, higher sea level and a complete lack of polar sea ice and thus the extiction or at minimum extreme endangerment of most polar animals.

Answer 3

Plants benefit from increased CO2 in a controlled environment where that's the only changing factor.

In the real world, increasing CO2 has other effects.  For example, increasing the global temperature, changing rainfall patterns, and causing droughts.  Those other effects aren't exactly beneficial to plants.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Besides which, there are other species on the planet impacted by increasing CO2 besides just plants.

Of course CO2 has been at higher concentrations in the past.  Millions of years ago when completely different species (of both plants and animals) were living on the planet.  Does that mean current plant species will thrive on a planet with significantly higher CO2 levels and thus hotter temperatures?  Maybe after they've spent a few thousand years evolving with the changing climate.

Answer 4

Water vapor is a green house gas of problem  a whole lot more then CO2 ever could be . CO2 is absorbed by plants and the oceans waters are a CO2 sink .

Answer 5

yes co2 good for plants

but way more harmful for humans and others

green house gas

creats problem in ozone formation

Answer 6

Some (but not all) plants benefit from it, yes.

Answer 7

even though it is good for plants, its not good for everthing else. plus, as you increase the plants' co2, the benefits increase.... only to a certain point  (try a plant photosynthesis simulator)

Answer 8

We are only talking about moderate amounts of CO2.  Alarmists suggest that adding CO2 will necessarily be harmful and willfully ignore the obvious benefits as you pointed out.   The effect of increasing a greenhouse gas results in a moderation of the temperature by increasing the coldest winter and nighttime temperatures far more than the summer or day temperatures.  This allows crops to grow much longer and results in many fewer animals dying in the winter.  The increase CO2 allows plants to use less water.  Plants thrive, animals thrive, but alas we are supposed to be concerned over melting ice on the pole.  Don't get me wrong, I am skeptical that it is even going to melt, but I am certainly not worried if it does.  If it does, it would only be for a short time in the summer.  There are many benefits to warming that I did not talk about.  When you are constructing a gloom and doom scenarios, facts that don't fit your agenda tend to get ignored.

Answer 9

You're right. We shouldn't be. CO2 is not a pollutant, yet it's made to look like it. AGW is more of a socialist agenda that seeks to control our ways of life.