Today we are going to talk about a gas that has become very famous known as carbon dioxide. It is a greenhouse gas that has the ability to retain heat in the atmosphere. Although people have demonized this gas with the increased greenhouse effect and the effects of climate change, this gas is essential for life. Just saying that if this gas did not exist, plants would not be able to photosynthesize and, therefore, we would not have oxygen to breathe.
We are going to discover all the secrets about carbon dioxide and the importance it has for life on the planet.
Key features
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is known to have one atom of carbon and two of oxygen. It is a colorless and odorless gas, so it can go unnoticed in the environment. The bond that joins the atoms is covalent, so it does not have any metal involved. Carbon dioxide is part of nature and is necessary for many physical and chemical processes. For example, if it were not for its heat retention capacity, much of the greenhouse effect that maintains stable temperatures throughout the planet could not take place.
As mentioned before, CO2 is also required for plants to photosynthesize. It is a process in which carbon dioxide is exchanged to release oxygen. This oxygen is necessary to be able to breathe and carry out life on the planet. It is not a toxic as they are thought or most people think. It is a gas that we expel from within. If it were toxic or poisonous, it would damage our airways and that does not happen, as we know.
Of natural form it is found in the environment in a concentration between 300ppm and 500ppm. These variations in the concentrations of carbon dioxide in the air vary if we carry out the measurements in urban environments or natural environments. Nature has its own sources of CO2 emissions such as respiration, decomposition processes, etc. However, it does not increase concentrations as much globally.
The problem humanity is facing is an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide to unwanted levels. We will see this later in more detail.
Effects on health
The CO2 is capable of producing a displacement of the oxygen that is in that place. This makes it dangerous indoors. If the concentration of carbon dioxide increases indoors, it will displace oxygen and less and less oxygen will be available. If a concentration of 30.000 ppm of CO2 can be stored, it will cause suffocation.
In work environments such as offices where the number of employees is high and computers do not help much in air renewal, from 800 ppm concentration, there are often complaints about odors. For this reason, it is necessary, not only for a matter of smell, that there is good aeration in the rooms so that the air is always as clean as possible.
It could be said that the main harmful effect that carbon dioxide has on health is suffocation due to the displacement of oxygen that occurs. This occurs in high concentrations capable of displacing oxygen and which can reduce its concentration below 20%. If there are very closed places with a high concentration of this gas, it can cause headaches, dizziness, drowsiness, and breathing problems.
One of the problems with closed tea rooms is that if hookah is smoked in closed places with a group of people nearby, there is no air purification and the CO2 displaces the oxygen present. If a person has asthma, they should always breathe air with a low CO2 concentration, otherwise they could have a respiratory attack.
Problematic in public places
Children in schools are an important group to analyze for healthy carbon dioxide concentrations. They are children who spend many hours in a closed room (if it is winter they are normally closed) and they are a considerable number. By breathing, they are consuming the O2 in the air to expel it in the form of CO2. If there is no way to clean the air, they may have headaches, drowsiness, or lack of concentration.
In Spain there is no regulation that regulates the level of CO2 in schools. In France, on the other hand, there is a relationship between low school performance and the concentration of CO2 in schools and institutes. Therefore, there are rules to establish the allowed limits that are no longer healthy.
Children have a higher metabolism and greater physical activity. Therefore, they produce more CO2 than an adult. It is convenient to review these factors to take care of the health of young people.
Carbon dioxide increase
Carbon dioxide concentrations have fluctuated throughout the evolution of our planet. There are studies that show how the atmosphere has had different levels of CO2 depending on the abundant vegetation and fauna at that time. It must also be taken into account that, at present, its concentration is well above normal given that the industrial revolution has caused that our main source of energy resides in the burning of Fossil fuels.
During the combustion of these fossil fuels among which we find coal, oil and natural gas emit large amounts of CO2. Whether in the industrial field, in the production of electrical energy or in transport. CO2 has increased enormously in recent years.
As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, CO2 has an ability to retain heat in the atmosphere. This is because it absorbs the sun's rays both when they come from outer space and when they bounce off the Earth's surface. The more heat it is able to retain, the more temperature there will be. Not just CO2, but other greenhouse gases are the cause that our temperature is habitable. However, this exacerbated rise in concentrations is what is triggering global warming.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about carbon dioxide.