A New Year’s Resolution to Embrace CO2 Emissions and Benefits – Watt?

Vijay Jayaraj

Scientific advances and agricultural technology revolutionized food production, making it easier for humans to feed an expanding population. Behind these famous innovations lies an unrecognized but integral contributor to the world's growing food security: rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂).

The molecule, wrongly labeled a “doomsday gas,” has been helping boost yields of important crops such as rice, wheat and soybeans.

Food security is a serious matter

No. 20^th The Green Revolution of the twentieth century demonstrated how scientific intervention, including the use of chemical fertilizers, could significantly increase crop yields. The late 1960s saw a dramatic shift in global production as Norman Borlaug developed high-yielding, drought-adapted, disease-resistant varieties of food crops.

The country that suffered from severe poverty and famine became an agricultural power within a decade or so. Wheat production nearly doubled in Pakistan and India between 1965 and 1970, and the two countries pleaded for international aid to save their people from malnutrition and starvation.

Despite criticism from some, agricultural advances in the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and gene editing remain critical. Without them, feeding the growing global population would be impossible. But they are not the complete story.

Increased CO2 concentrations also drive higher crop yields₂ In the atmosphere that started in 2019^th The century in which the industrial revolution accelerated. With the advancement of global industrialization after World War II, the growth rate increased further.

C3-C4 Division: Understanding the Differences

C4 plants have particularly efficient photosynthetic pathways, in which they produce four-carbon sugar molecules. These plants, including corn and sugarcane, evolved to adapt millions of years ago in response to an atmosphere with relatively low carbon dioxide levels₂. As a result, C4 crops are close to their maximum efficiency in terms of CO2 emissions₂ Used under environmental conditions suitable for today's times.

In comparison, C3 plants were in the distant past, when CO₂ Its levels were many times higher than today, showing a dramatic response to the increased gas content in the atmosphere. C3 plants, named for their three-carbon sugar molecules, have a relatively inefficient photosynthetic process. Their stomata (tiny holes in leaves that allow gas exchange) must stay open longer to capture enough carbon dioxide₂which results in greater water loss through transpiration.

Environmental carbon dioxide content is high₂ levels allow C3 plants to photosynthesize more efficiently while losing less water. Benefits of Elevated Carbon Dioxide Concentrations₂ This is not just theoretical, as demonstrated by field studies that have confirmed laboratory findings.

These studies, conducted under real-world conditions, show that yields of various C3 crops continue to increase. Wheat yield increases by 20-30% when CO concentration increases₂ Under the conditions, the increase in meters is between 15-32%. Soybean is another important C3 crop, with yield increases of up to 46% in some studies.

Maybe CO has nowhere to go₂ The effect is more obvious than greenhouse cultivation. Modern greenhouse operators often increase productivity by increasing CO2 levels₂ Concentrations reached 800-1,000 parts per million (ppm), well above the current atmospheric concentration of about 420 ppm. The results were impressive: tomato yield increased by 40-50%, cucumber yield increased by 30-40%, and the growth of lettuce and other vegetables was significantly accelerated.

Furthermore, it is now discovered that even C4 crops such as corn and sugarcane benefit from rising CO2 concentrations₂ under drought and low soil nitrogen conditions. This is a major revelation for countries in tropical Asia, where sugarcane growers often face insufficient water for their plants. Further research may show that 21^Yingshi Increased carbon dioxide levels over the century₂ levels have been instrumental in crop production there.

Learn about carbon dioxide₂The role of crops in productivity should inform the policy environment, with governments and corporate entities such as Blackrock and Vanguard wrongly promoting reductions in atmospheric carbon dioxide₂ Treat this as a “life-saving” effort without understanding basic plant biology. The opposite is true: the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing₂ It is a blessing for mankind, and its absence would be a bad thing.

We should be grateful for industrial CO2 emissions, which help increase crop productivity, instead of spending billions on silly projects to remove CO2 from the air and store it underground. These measures will do nothing to improve the weather while driving people into poverty.

The carbon dioxide released today through the burning of coal, oil and natural gas is reversing the process of carbon dioxide sequestration₂ Over millions of years, these gases disappear from the atmosphere and reduce the amount of gas available for plant growth to less than optimal concentrations.

One resolution worth passing this New Year is to reject the coordinated demonization of CO2₂ Climate scaremongers and celebrating it for what it is: the breath of life.

This review was first published on BizPac Reviews December 27, 2024.

Vijay Jayaraj is a scientific research assistant carbon monoxide₂ allianceArlington, VA. he He holds a master's degree in environmental science from the University of East Anglia, UK, a postgraduate degree in energy management from Robert Gordon University, and a bachelor's degree in engineering from Anna University, India.

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