Quote:
easy_rider911 said:
I'm certainly no expert at chemistry but you're confusing CO2 (the carbon dioxide which plants consume giving off oxygen) with CO (the carbon monoxide which is a harmful pollutant).



I do have a degree in Chemistry way back when, although I have forgotten most of it these days...

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is the greenhouse gas which is 'apparently' warming our planet and causing the ice caps to melt. Other greenhouse gases include, water vapor (H2O), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O - laughing gas, and for making you car go faster!), and ozone (O3) which are ALL naturally occurring.

Just refreshing my memory on google...Water vapor causes 36-70% of the greenhouse effect on the planet (not including clouds), C02 9-26%, CH4 4-9%, and O3 3-7%

Carbon Monoxide (CO) on the other hand is a small by product of burning fossil fuels when they burn incompletely, toxic to us but not the cause of any environmental catastrophe (as far as I know).

Particle pollution in the atmosphere is ironically having a negative affect on global warming, and is actually causing 'global dimming'. The particles reflect sunlight back out into space. Take away the particle pollution such as vapor trails from planes and it would be even hotter!

Frankly, I don't think anyone really knows what's going on. However, the car seems to be the latest scapegoat for pushing the blame away from the real polluters!