3 ms·

Well, I'm not sure what you mean by diminishing returns, because you can't mean it literally. At some point, you get Venus. I can't recall what leads to a lot m

Well, I'm not sure what you mean by diminishing returns, because you can't mean it literally. At some point, you get Venus. I can't recall what leads to a lot more CO2 being released, but there's something. Not in the next hundred years, of course.

chrisco255 6y ago
Venus has 2400 times the atmospheric CO2 concentration of earth. It is 96% CO2. It also has an opaque atmosphere which prevents a lot of solar energy from radiating out on the dark side of the planet (as occurs on cloudless areas of earth at night). There isn't even that much carbon on planet earth. Perhaps the highest the earth has ever had was around 7000 parts per million. Mars atmosphere is also mostly CO2 but it's a frozen waste land. Of course, other factors are at play in deciding the temperature of Venus, Earth, and Mars besides CO2. The greenhouse effect as described involves CO2 as a gas blocking a narrow band of IR solar light from being re-emitted into outer space. This is a probabilistic process, as gas molecules are in constant motion as are photons. As you increase the concentration of CO2, the effect becomes saturated, since the gas is already stacked in three dimensions. So there is less IR energy to absorb that isn't already being captured. Clouds and atmospheric H2O have a much higher impact on climate. These are driven by oceanic patterns (which themselves are caused by geologic and solar forces).
- perl4ever 6y ago
  >Venus has 2400 times the atmospheric CO2 concentration of earth ... >There isn't even that much carbon on planet earth I think there is. I believe it's generally accepted that on the order of 20,000-100,000 times the atmospheric CO2 is found in rocks on Earth. Not even necessarily including the mantle. "The amount of carbon in the atmosphere as CO2 is only .00095% of the total carbon on Earth." https://projectvesta.org/wiki/long-term-carbonate-cycle/ https://projectvesta.org/wiki/long-term-carbonate-cycle/ "...the atmosphere, storing 735 gigatons (0.001%) of the world’s carbon as carbon dioxide (CO2)...and 62,000,000 gigatons (99.9%) in sedimentary rocks (e.g., limestone and dolomite)" https://biocyclopedia.com/index/algae/biogeochemical_role_of_algae/algae_and_the_oxygen_carbon_cycles.php https://biocyclopedia.com/index/algae/biogeochemical_role_of... I didn't really think this was obscure.

chrisco255 6y ago

Venus has 2400 times the atmospheric CO2 concentration of earth. It is 96% CO2. It also has an opaque atmosphere which prevents a lot of solar energy from radiating out on the dark side of the planet (as occurs on cloudless areas of earth at night). There isn't even that much carbon on planet earth. Perhaps the highest the earth has ever had was around 7000 parts per million. Mars atmosphere is also mostly CO2 but it's a frozen waste land. Of course, other factors are at play in deciding the temperature of Venus, Earth, and Mars besides CO2. The greenhouse effect as described involves CO2 as a gas blocking a narrow band of IR solar light from being re-emitted into outer space. This is a probabilistic process, as gas molecules are in constant motion as are photons. As you increase the concentration of CO2, the effect becomes saturated, since the gas is already stacked in three dimensions. So there is less IR energy to absorb that isn't already being captured. Clouds and atmospheric H2O have a much higher impact on climate. These are driven by oceanic patterns (which themselves are caused by geologic and solar forces).

perl4ever 6y ago
>Venus has 2400 times the atmospheric CO2 concentration of earth ... >There isn't even that much carbon on planet earth I think there is. I believe it's generally accepted that on the order of 20,000-100,000 times the atmospheric CO2 is found in rocks on Earth. Not even necessarily including the mantle. "The amount of carbon in the atmosphere as CO2 is only .00095% of the total carbon on Earth." https://projectvesta.org/wiki/long-term-carbonate-cycle/ https://projectvesta.org/wiki/long-term-carbonate-cycle/ "...the atmosphere, storing 735 gigatons (0.001%) of the world’s carbon as carbon dioxide (CO2)...and 62,000,000 gigatons (99.9%) in sedimentary rocks (e.g., limestone and dolomite)" https://biocyclopedia.com/index/algae/biogeochemical_role_of_algae/algae_and_the_oxygen_carbon_cycles.php https://biocyclopedia.com/index/algae/biogeochemical_role_of... I didn't really think this was obscure.