Re: [Phys-L] carbon wars

["Folkerts, Timothy J" <FolkertsT@bartonccc.edu>]

> If we really did have a "myriad of carbon sinks removing carbon from 
> the atmosphere" then climate change would be a non-issue.

Most estimate I have seen suggest that about 1/2 of the "excess CO2" produced by burning fossil fuels are absorbed back but the earth, leaving about 1/2 in the atmosphere.  So clearly there are SOME sinks operating out there mitigating our dumping of CO2 into the atmosphere. 

> Conceivably you could grow a bunch of plants and then protect the product 
> from rot, forever ... but nobody is doing this.
Mother Nature herself is doing this to some extent.  Much of the planet is getting green with thicker vegetation, acting as a net absorber of CO2.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323374504578217621593679506


I am not going to try to project how this might play out in the future, but for now it seems that CO2 is fertilizing many biomes and causing better plant growth.   

(And yes, I agree that acidification of the oceans by CO2 absorption is not a good thing.)