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> Oil became so abundant this year No, the rate of oil being yanked out of the ground has become so abundant this year--especially when contrast with the rate

> Oil became so abundant this year No, the rate of oil being yanked out of the ground has become so abundant this year--especially when contrast with the rate of use since a staggering amount of us are staying at home--that the price went negative. (And it only went negative because futures traders did not want to actually take delivery of the physical oil they'd "purchased" with their options contracts.) The quantity of fossil fuels available to us on this planet is decreasing while our use of them continues to wreck the atmosphere we rely upon. A large component of this is personal transportation (alongside industry).

chrisco255 6y ago
The proven natural reserves is higher than at any point in history. Massive amounts of oil exist which accumulated for millions of years and we are nowhere near depleting those reserves. And no, contrary to the fear over mild warming, CO2 has many fantastic benefits for plant life on this planet. In recent years, this has caused the total plant leaf surface area to increase by 25-50%: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/carbon-dioxide-fertilization-greening-earth/ https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/carbon-dioxide-fer... Photosynthesis quite literally depends on CO2. Thank goodness we're restoring the CO2 back to the atmosphere from which it originally came from. It was buried under ground as an accident of history. Plants evolved to thrive at CO2 levels more than 3-4x what present-day levels are.
- datameta 6y ago
  3-4x the current level of CO2 is far far past runaway environmental catastrophe. A plant can have all the CO2 it wants but it would have to attempt to eke out an existence in a far drier climate that is multiple degrees hotter.
- kstrauser 6y ago
  I know this is against Hacker News rules, but I'll say it anyway: that's the stupidest thing I've read in days. Your 8th grade science teacher is off somewhere having an aneurysm and they don't even know why. That same article you linked goes on to say: > While rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the air can be beneficial for plants, it is also the chief culprit of climate change. The gas, which traps heat in Earth’s atmosphere, has been increasing since the industrial age due to the burning of oil, gas, coal and wood for energy and is continuing to reach concentrations not seen in at least 500,000 years. The impacts of climate change include global warming, rising sea levels, melting glaciers and sea ice as well as more severe weather events. But you just picked the one part you thought sounded less apocalyptic and chose to ignore the rest.
  - gambiting 6y ago
    I mean, he's not entirely wrong. The rising CO2 levels will be absolutely fantastic for plants. Just not so much for us.
    - kstrauser 6y ago
      Not really. They can only absorb so much CO2, however much they might be steeped in.
- jbay808 6y ago
  Plants are not limited by a lack of CO2, but generally by water, temperatures, and soil nutrients such as nitrogen.

chrisco255 6y ago

The proven natural reserves is higher than at any point in history. Massive amounts of oil exist which accumulated for millions of years and we are nowhere near depleting those reserves. And no, contrary to the fear over mild warming, CO2 has many fantastic benefits for plant life on this planet. In recent years, this has caused the total plant leaf surface area to increase by 25-50%: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/carbon-dioxide-fertilization-greening-earth/ https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/carbon-dioxide-fer... Photosynthesis quite literally depends on CO2. Thank goodness we're restoring the CO2 back to the atmosphere from which it originally came from. It was buried under ground as an accident of history. Plants evolved to thrive at CO2 levels more than 3-4x what present-day levels are.

datameta 6y ago
3-4x the current level of CO2 is far far past runaway environmental catastrophe. A plant can have all the CO2 it wants but it would have to attempt to eke out an existence in a far drier climate that is multiple degrees hotter.
kstrauser 6y ago
I know this is against Hacker News rules, but I'll say it anyway: that's the stupidest thing I've read in days. Your 8th grade science teacher is off somewhere having an aneurysm and they don't even know why. That same article you linked goes on to say: > While rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the air can be beneficial for plants, it is also the chief culprit of climate change. The gas, which traps heat in Earth’s atmosphere, has been increasing since the industrial age due to the burning of oil, gas, coal and wood for energy and is continuing to reach concentrations not seen in at least 500,000 years. The impacts of climate change include global warming, rising sea levels, melting glaciers and sea ice as well as more severe weather events. But you just picked the one part you thought sounded less apocalyptic and chose to ignore the rest.
- gambiting 6y ago
  I mean, he's not entirely wrong. The rising CO2 levels will be absolutely fantastic for plants. Just not so much for us.
  - kstrauser 6y ago
    Not really. They can only absorb so much CO2, however much they might be steeped in.
jbay808 6y ago
Plants are not limited by a lack of CO2, but generally by water, temperatures, and soil nutrients such as nitrogen.