CO2, Climate Change, Fossil Fuels, and Nuclear Power - A Simple Summary John Shanahan February 28, 2021 Alarmists, advocates for a prosperous modern world, and the public have widely differing opinions on man-made global warming, use of fossil fuels and nuclear power. Here is a short summary about carbon dioxide, man-made global warming, natural climate change, use of fossil fuels and nuclear power. 1) The CO2 cycle on Earth consists of flow between four reservoirs: [(1) atmosphere, (2) land (plants and animals), (3) shallow ocean - dissolved CO2, plants, and marine life, and (4) deep ocean - dissolved CO2, mostly dead plants, and dead marine life]. Chemistry can not differentiate between man-made and natural CO2. 2) CO2 transfers between the atmosphere, land, and shallow ocean reservoirs happen relatively quickly - months, years, decades. 3) CO2 transfer from shallow ocean to deep ocean is a much slower process - decades, centuries, millenia. 4) Temperature of the shallow ocean has not changed much in the last hundred years. It isn't clear why lots of CO2 would be leaving the shallow ocean, degassing into the atmosphere. 5) The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has clearly risen from approximately 280 ppm to 415 ppm in the last 200 years. It is logical to conclude that this additional CO2 comes from use of fossil fuels. The increase of atmospheric CO2 has many benefits and will not cause Catastrophic Man-Made Global Warming. 6) CO2 is unquestionably a key molecule of life on Earth. Life is a special miracle beyond the miracle of the existence of the universe itself. It is a horrible act to wantonly destroy large amounts of life. That would happen if government leaders and alarmists force the world to stop using fossil fuels. The population would drop by more than half simply because food production would collapse and food transport to population centers would diminish. Who has the right to force the population to suffer and die by the billions because of lack of fossil fuels to do all the work to support the modern world? 7) If we label CO2 molecules that do not come from fossil fuels, "natural CO2" and those that come from use of fossil fuels, "man-made CO2," and if these two are indistinguishable chemically, then it is false to claim that man-made CO2 is a pollutant. It is impossible to claim that man-made CO2 has mostly, quickly gone into shallow 1
Summary about CO2 Climate Change Fossil Fuels Nuclear Power
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