Don't fret, global warming will cure our energy and food crises!

ballz2wallz · 07-09-2008, 10:21 AM

The crops apparently thrive off increased CO2, not surprising since animals need it to live! So, all the doomsday scenarios that we have due to global warming are bunk, because humanity will actually be better off!

The dangerous rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere may be troubling scientists and world leaders but it could prove to be a boon for plants, German researchers said Tuesday.

Increasing exposure to carbon dioxide appears to boost crop yields, Hans-Joachim Weigel of the Johann Heinrich von Thuenen Institute for rural areas, forestry and fisheries in the central city of Brunswick told AFP.
"Output increased by about 10 percent for barley, beets and wheat" when the plants were subjected to higher levels of carbon dioxide, Weigel said.
The Thuenen Institute, which has been monitoring the phenomenon in fields since 1999, trains CO2 jets on the plants so the gas reaches 550 parts per million in the air around them -- the level expected in the atmosphere by 2050.
Weigel said the studies have indicated that while greater CO2 exposure appears to spur growth, it can also undermine the quality of the produce.
He said the next step in the study would be to evaluate the effect of higher temperatures on plant growth -- which scientists cite as another consequence of higher CO2 emissions in the atmosphere.
Weigel said that while the institute's findings may prove surprising to some, they are not intended to undermine the drive to slash CO2 emissions.
"This research is not intended as an argument for doing nothing to curb the rise of CO2 levels," he said. "It is to find out what the effects would be." Other studies have presented a more mixed picture about the impact of higher CO2 levels on plants, and there is uncertainty about its effects on soil fertility and which plants benefit most from more CO2.

Higher CO2 levels may be good for plants: German scientists

Ardentfrost · 07-09-2008, 10:22 AM

Of course plants thrive off more CO2... but I think it's the other effects people are worried about.

ballz2wallz · 07-09-2008, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by Ardentfrost

Of course plants thrive off more CO2... but I think it's the other effects people are worried about.

At least we won't go hungry like has been claimed!

So we'll have more beaches, more vacation spaces, and more food. Life can't get better than that!

motivez · 07-09-2008, 10:50 AM

So they'll be able to breathe better, great, but I think that'll be offset by their inability to get enough water if the climate shifts lead to droughts, or their inability to cope with temperature shifts in previously moderate regions..

ballz2wallz · 07-09-2008, 10:54 AM

Originally Posted by motivez

So they'll be able to breathe better, great, but I think that'll be offset by their inability to get enough water if the climate shifts lead to droughts, or their inability to cope with temperature shifts in previously moderate regions..

Previously freezing areas will be now moderate!

Maybe the climate shifts will lead to more water? Ater all, it won't all be frozen anymore...

motivez · 07-09-2008, 11:01 AM

Originally Posted by Nurse Betty

Previously freezing areas will be now moderate!

Maybe the climate shifts will lead to more water? Ater all, it won't all be frozen anymore...

global warming is a misnomer, climate change is more accurate. the warming leads to melting ice, which leads to further shifts in the climate, and not every place will experience an increase in temperature when the ocean currents that currently keep us relatively moderate shift

ballz2wallz · 07-09-2008, 11:08 AM

Originally Posted by motivez

global warming is a misnomer, climate change is more accurate. the warming leads to melting ice, which leads to further shifts in the climate, and not every place will experience an increase in temperature when the ocean currents that currently keep us relatively moderate shift

Likewise, maybe not every place will be in a drought.

motivez · 07-09-2008, 11:14 AM

Originally Posted by Nurse Betty

Likewise, maybe not every place will be in a drought.

I don't think it will be, but in the ensuing shift there's no real telling what will happen to global food supplies.

WickedLou9 · 07-09-2008, 12:23 PM

Originally Posted by motivez

I don't think it will be, but in the ensuing shift there's no real telling what will happen to global food supplies.

Exactly. With the massive industrial farming complex that we have built up, you can't simply move them. If one farming region becomes a desert, that industry dies. It doesn't move. It takes a long time for that same infrastructure to be re-built in a newly fertile region. In the mean time that food production is lost. I will be disasterous.

ballz2wallz · 07-09-2008, 01:29 PM

Doomed to a fatal delusion over climate change | Herald Sun

Schrödinger's Cat · 07-09-2008, 01:36 PM

Originally Posted by Nurse Betty

The crops apparently thrive off increased CO2, not surprising since animals need it to live! So, all the doomsday scenarios that we have due to global warming are bunk, because humanity will actually be better off!

This is a complete straw man. Scientists aren't even suggesting that there is a "doomsday scenario" or that life couldn't adapt to a new change in global climate.

Originally Posted by Nurse Betty

Maybe the climate shifts will lead to more water? Ater all, it won't all be frozen anymore...

All projections that I've read say it will lead to less water. Of course, ice melts to water, but the rising oceans will come in contact with drinking water reserves and contaminate them with salt water.