4 ms·
> Humans evolved in a lower CO2 environment. Our lungs are adapted for optimal gas exchange in that environment. At what point do we start literally suffocating
by thaumasiotes 1y ago
> Humans evolved in a lower CO2 environment. Our lungs are adapted for optimal gas exchange in that environment. At what point do we start literally suffocating?
Good news on that front. Because you constantly produce waste CO₂, you have detection mechanisms letting you know when the amount in your lungs is excessive.
You picked the only gas where accidental suffocation isn't a possibility as the one you wanted to worry about.
- api 1y agoDiscomfort only kicks in under more extreme conditions. We're talking about very mild asphyxiation that is not noticeable but degrades mental and physical performance. CO2 outdoors has gone from about 280ppm to 420ppm in the last hundred years. If we kept going for another century it could approach 1000ppm, which is where you start seeing these effects. The scary question is whether there is any effect at 420ppm. We don't think so, but very marginal effects are hard to detect. Yet a global loss of an average of 5 IQ points would have significant large scale effects on society. It's also possible that it doesn't affect all people equally, since most things don't. There have been times in Earth's history where CO2 concentrations were in the thousands of ppm, but there were no humans then.