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Why are we not taking into account CO2 emissions through
respiratory processes?
Globally, livestock is the most important anthropogenic source of
methane emissions (USEPA, 2006a). Methane is a powerful GHG with ~20
times the global warming potential of CO2. In this statistics emission
from respiration of human beings is not included. So we are not
counting 6.9 billion populations who are continuously emitting CO2.
Nature has the answer to this.
Due to human activities, the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere
has been rising extensively during the last 150 years. As a result, it
has exceeded the amount sequestered in biomass, the oceans, and other
sinks.
There
has been a climb in carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere of
about 280 ppm in 1850 to 364 ppm in 1998, mainly due to human
activities during and after the industrial revolution, which began in
1850.
Humans
have been increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in air by burning of
fossil fuels, by producing cement and by carrying out land clearing and
forest combustion. About 22% of the current atmospheric CO2
concentrations exist due to these human activities, considered that
there is no change in natural amounts of carbon dioxide.
Ratio
of human beings emitting in atmosphere through respiration is in
proportion to plants and trees who convert this CO2 into O2 in the
process called photosynthesis.
With the destruction and burning of the rain forests more and more CO2
is being released into the atmosphere. Trees play an important role in
producing oxygen from carbon dioxide. "A 115 year old Beech tree
exposes about 200,000 leaves with a total surface to 1200 square
meters. During the course of one sunny day such a tree inhales 9,400
liters of carbon dioxide to produce 12 kilograms of carbohydrate, thus
liberating 9,400 liters of oxygen. Through this mechanism about 45,000
liters of air are regenerated which is sufficient for the respiration
of 2 to 3 people". (Breuer 1) This process is called photosynthesis
which all plants go though but some yield more and some less oxygen. As
long as no more wood is burnt than is reproduced by the forests, no
change in atmospheric CO2 concentration will result. Therefore Animals
and trees are complimentary to each other.
Carbon dioxide, Lenntex, 2008 http://www.lenntech.com/carbon-dioxide.htm
This brings us to one conclusion that human population must always be
in proportion to environmental resources.
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