Doodling with data on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions – not so much impact on climate, just background notes

We are all aware of the narrative around how changes in CO2 emissions are claimed to act like strychnine to the planet (or a spike protein on a human) – very small changes result in dangerous changes to global temperatures - even of just a few degrees – which in turn is claimed to be sufficient to cause massive climate change.

Control of CO2 emissions is central to the political agenda of those that disapprove of the growing numbers of humans and their consumption of the earth’s finite resources.

I have posted articles featuring experts that challenge this narrative and claim that, as with Fauci’s twisting of health research budgets, the only research that qualifies for tax payer funding via government bureaucracies is research that supports the “climate change” narrative. I will not side-track into the same centres of learning that insist on masking which creates 5,000 parts per million of CO2 behind the mask, compared to 400 parts per million outside the mask!

The basic premise is that too much of this sort of thing is the root cause of all the problems. There are much more complicated hydrocarbons than this, but the basic cause and effect is largely unchanged. It seems odd to me that the capture of exhaust from combustion engines is not built in to the design of an engine – CO2 and water have their uses and values!

A simple methane hydrocarbon molecule + a couple of oxygen molecules results in carbon dioxide plus a couple of water molecules. The impact of water molecules is ignored and only the carbon dioxide molecule is considered.

Ok, at the outset, we need to define a few terms.

Hydrocarbons such as oil and gas and their refined products are NOT fossil fuels., they are hydrocarbons. The most apparent error is to describe gas as a fossil fuel, I mean, “come on!!!”.

Secondly, there is no “Carbon footprint” in the schematic. Carbon is an element that exists as diamonds, charcoal and the like. There is no carbon in that simplified schematic .Carbon dioxide is a colourless, odourless gas that does not leave any kind of “footprint” as we would describe a track made in dirt.

“Carbon neutral” does NOT mean zero CO2 emissions, it means that CO2 emissions = CO2 absorption OR use of renewable energy instead of hydrocarbon energy. We will all soon get familiar with carbon credits which you can buy from those who use renewable energy.

See how the scam works? The politicians (the Green movement) say that removing millions upon millions of acres from the land and sea surface to put up windmills and solar panels, qualifies for tax AND carbon credits. Funded by taxes not spent elsewhere (like welfare, health and education) and by super taxes on producers of hydrocarbon fuels (oil and natural gas, for example). Going “Net Zero” will compel everyone to buy “carbon credits” from companies generating “renewable energy” – and similar.

Lots of direct tax subsidies and legislated energy consumption (higher prices) from renewables and restrictive trade practices and taxes for hydrocarbons.

Right, let’s dive in.

Big picture first.

How much does all the air on the planet actually weigh?

How much does Earth’s atmosphere weigh? | BBC Science Focus Magazine

“Just over five quadrillion tonnes. Air is surprisingly heavy. A cubic metre of air at sea level weighs about 1.3kg and all the oceans only weigh 270 times as much as the atmosphere.”

Right, what about CO2?

Is CO2 Heavier Than Air? — Explanation - Techiescientist

“CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) is heavier than air. One molecule of carbon dioxide is composed of two oxygen atoms and one carbon atom. Combining the atomic mass of all these atoms, the molecular mass of CO2 is 44 while the average molecular mass of air is around 29.”

Atmospheric concentrations - Our World in Data

CO2 is around 400 parts per million = 0.04% of air.

So, how much does the CO2 in all the air on the planet weigh? Adjust for relative weight (ignore density for ease).

5 quadrillion tonnes times 0.04% times 44/29 = 5 trillion tonnes.

A ton is around 10% heavier than a tonne – so 5 trillion tonnes is around 4.5 trillion tons.

That’s a lot of CO2 – how is it changing?

How much carbon dioxide does the Earth naturally absorb? | MIT Climate Portal

“Some parts of the planet, such as the oceans and forests, absorb carbon dioxide and store it for hundreds or thousands of years. These are called natural carbon sinks. Meanwhile, natural sources of CO2 such as undersea volcanoes and hydrothermal vents release carbon. Altogether the planet absorbs and emits about 100 billion tons of carbon dioxide through this natural cycle every year.” Daniel Rothman, MIT professor of geophysics.

100 billion tons = 110 billion tonnes out of 4.5 trillion tons = “turnover” of around 2.2% per annum – currently.

CO2 Absorption by Plants and Oceans

Plants absorb more CO2 than we thought, but ... (theconversation.com)

“Currently, about 25% of the carbon emissions produced by human activity are absorbed by plants, and another similar amount ends up in the ocean.”

Half of CO2 emissions caused by human activity is absorbed by plants and oceans.

Three billion tonnes from humans exhaling CO2 out of 50 billion tonnes of CO2 produced from all human activity a year – out of 5 trillion tonnes of CO2 in the atmosphere with, apparently, half absorbed by plants and oceans.

Interestingly, around one third of the oceans CO2 is photosynthesized by plankton. I don’t know if that is included in Professor Rothman’s statement.

How Plankton Blooms Absorb CO2 | Science for the Public

So, by weight, we are looking at the impact on climate/temperatures impacting 3 trillion tonnes of CO2 out of 5,000 trillion tonnes of air, from cumulative changes of 50 billion tonnes of CO2 a year – whilst assuming that all other gases in the atmosphere (cand clouds) remain constant.

Lots of talk about human impacts. I will make a (probably false) leap and suggest that all other breathing things on the planet (insects, birds, reptiles , mammals etc and fish)  exhale at least twice the CO2 exhaled by humans on the planet?

Anyway, other species aside, let’s side-track a little and check out the significance of CO2 emissions from the exhalations of 8 billion people on the planet.

How much does human breathing contribute to climate change? | BBC Science Focus Magazine

“In one day, the average person breathes out around 500 litres of the greenhouse gas CO2 – which amounts to around 1kg in mass.”

8 billion people times 1 kg times 365 days = around 3 billion tonnes (2.7 billion tons).

Okay, back to total emissions from all human activity and where increases have come from.

Greenhouse gas emissions - Our World in Data

“Today, we collectively emit around 50 billion tonnes of CO2e each year. This is more than 40% higher than emissions in 1990, which were around 35 billion tonnes.”

CO2e is CO2 + CO2 equivalents of other greenhouse gases.

Let’s dig a little deeper on the CO2 component, from here:

CO2 emissions - Our World in Data

The chart on this page says 37.1 billion tonnes, so presumably the other 13 billion or so, is the CO2 equivalent of other “greenhouse” gases stated in CO2 equivalents.

The chart suggests that in the twenty years between 2001 and 2021, CO2 emissions increased from 25.7 billion tonnes to 37.1 billion tonnes = + 11.4 billion tonnes = +44%.

The world population was 6.2 billion in 2001 compared to 7.9 billion in 2021 = +27%, so a higher amount of CO2 emissions per capita.

It has been all about China. CO2 emissions which are up from 3.7 billion tonnes in 2001 to 11.5 billion tonnes in 2021 = +7.8 billion tonnes out of the global increase of 11.4 billion tonnes – 68% of the increase over the last 20 years.

China’s population has increased from 1.27 billion in 2001, to 1.41 billion in 2021 = + 11%

China: CO2 Country Profile - Our World in Data

(India increased its CO2 emissions by a billion tonnes over the 20 years to 2021.)

A quick note on volcanic emissions:

Which emits more carbon dioxide: volcanoes or human activities? | NOAA Climate.gov

“.. the best overall estimate was about 0.6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per year

To paraphrase Mike Tyson, “average volcanic emissions are always lower until you get something five times the size of Eyjafjallajökull !!!!”

Those are some notes on CO2, to be shared, challenged and corrected!

I haven’t cross-checked these with source material from my other articles .

Onwards!

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