How CO2 affects the climate

CO₂ acts like a rotary switch in a heating system. As more CO₂ gets into the atmosphere, the higher does the earth’s temperature rise. However, it takes much longer for it to get hot. But when that point is reached, the switch cannot simply be turned down again.

Life on earth would be impossible without CO₂. It retains the heat in the atmosphere and produces the familiar greenhouse effect. It acts as the rotary switch on the earth’s thermostat to set the planetary temperature.

Now just imagine: it’s cold in your home and you turn up the heating. It then takes a while before the room gets really warm. It’s much the same with CO₂, the earth’s thermostat, although the delay in this case may be up to several decades.

Perhaps you think it would be rather nice if the earth became somewhat warmer. But a general planetary temperature rise would also have many unpleasant, even unpredictable consequences. It would get warmer in many regions, plant and animal life would change and many species would die out. Water would become scarce, glaciers would melt, extreme events such as droughts, tornadoes and floods would become more frequent. Sea levels would rise.

In a hundred years, when the earth’s heating process has really got into its stride, it would be quite impossible to simply turn the rotary switch down again.

So it makes sense to act now. Every kilogram of CO₂ saved contributes to turning the rotary switch down. Governments and companies are called upon to act. They can make a contribution too.

Additional topics:

• About the increase of CO₂ in the atmosphere
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