Educating the public on the benefits of carbon dioxide is the mission of the CO2 Coalition, which I lead. We sponsor speakers and publish scientifically based materials for adults and children. Much of the information is about the role of CO2 as a beneficial greenhouse gas in moderating the extremes between daytime and nighttime temperatures and as a photosynthetic plant food.

“Fossil Fuels Are the Greenest Energy Sources” by Dr. Indur Goklany is an example of our work. Did you know that up to 50% of the globe has experienced an increase in vegetation and that 70% of the greening is attributed to plant fertilization by carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels? Or that nearly 200,000 square kilometers of the southern Sahara have been converted to a lush grassland from desert? //

Below about 150 parts per million (ppm) of atmospheric CO2 is not compatible with plant life; in other words, below that level, plants would die, and all animal life, including humans, would follow.

Current CO2 levels are at about 440 ppm, and yes, they are rising, due to several factors. This is leading to the effects that are noted in the work of Dr. Indur Goklany: //

Based on satellite data, Zhu et al. (2016) found that from 1982–2009, 25–50% of global vegetated area had become greener while 4% had become browner. They attributed 70% of the greening to CO2 fertilization from emissions from fossil fuel combustion (which increases photosynthesis and water use efficiency, WUE, of most vegetation), 9% to nitrogen deposition (also from the use of fossil-fuel-derived fertilizers), 8% to climate change, and 4% to land use change. The first three, responsible cumulatively for 87% of the greening, are related to the use of fossil fuels. //

A slight increase in atmospheric CO2 is good for plants, good for human agriculture, and good for greening the Earth. //

anon-2hhh
9 hours ago
I’ve been suspicious of ‘experts’ motives ever since I realized that the scientific solution for the coming ‘Ice Age’ (1970s) and the scientific solution for ‘Global Warming’ was the same;
‘Stop using fossil fuels’. //

Val U Eigen
9 hours ago
There's one more benefit that NO ONE talks about—fewer violent tornadoes. Check this out.

https://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/f5torns.html

Break this into 25 year segments, and you'll notice that:
in 1950–1974 we had 33 cat 5 tornadoes.
in 1975–1999 we had 17 cat 5 tornadoes.
in 2000–2024 we had 9 cat 5 tornadoes (and none in the last 11 years.)

This is due to global warming. The explanation comes from the second law of thermodynamics (and it's too complicated to explain here). But the bottom line is that tornadoes are getting weaker.

Cat 4's are getting much less common too, but the data isn't as easy to display. //

Val U Eigen Hoover the Great
9 hours ago
First, global warming mainly warms the coldest places at the coldest times (because the effect is essentially like insulation). So temperature differences are reduced. Technically, it's temperature "gradients" that are reduced. This is not in dispute.

Second, the second law of thermodynamics says that temperature differences, not simply heat, is the energy source for all heat engines. It is impossible to build a device that simply converts heat into energy (that is, gets cold while spitting out electricity or mechanical motion). Otherwise, you could build a refrigerator that produced electricity instead of consumed it.

Because this is a result of the second law of thermodynamics, this is cleverly called perpetual motion of the second kind. This is the complex part that takes a long time to explain. The best way to learn about it is to google perpetual motion of the second kind.

Temperature gradients are the energy source for tornadoes. //

ibt
9 hours ago
The next time your climate change deranged relative talks about CO2, ask, "What is the ideal atmospheric PPM of CO2 for the planet?" Show your work. Then ask what the current PPM is. You can also remind them that 4 times as many people die of cold than of heat related issues so a warmer planet would save lives. That's a "good" thing right? ///

What's the ideal temperature for the planet? Why?