In places with high Co2 levels, does it increase the temperature?

An interesting article, thanks for highlighting it.

Given the right circumstances then increased levels of CO2 do correlate with increased temperatures. For that to happen there has to be a source of that heat energy and within our solar system that source is almost exclusively the Sun. It provides some 99.97% of the energy that can ultimately be retained by the molecules of carbon dioxide within the atmosphere.

Herein is the key difference between the article you linked to and what we observe happening throughout the universe – those areas where CO2 levels are up to 950,000 parts per million by volume aren’t in the atmosphere; they’re in the ground. As such they’re not exposed to sunlight and so no heat retention is going to happen.

The greenhouse gases in the atmosphere interact with certain wavelengths of heat energy. The energy coming from the Sun has a very short wavelength, too short for absorption by the greenhouse gases, and so this incoming solar radiation passes through the atmosphere unimpeded. The heat is absorbed by the Earth and is subsequently reradiated back outward, this time the source is much cooler than the Sun and so the wavelength is much longer. This new wavelength corresponds with the vibrational frequencies of the greenhouse gas molecules and therefore absorption and subsequent retransmission of the heat energy can take place.

What I’ve just described is essentially the greenhouse effect and it’s this mechanism by which sufficient heat is retained within our atmosphere to provide a planet upon which life can exist. With no greenhouse effect or no greenhouse gases in the atmosphere there would be no heat retention and our planet would be nothing more than a ball of ice drifting in space.

To see what happens when levels of CO2 reach 950,000 ppmv in the atmosphere we only need to look at Venus. Here the atmosphere is a little more concentrated, being as it is, around 965,000 ppmv of carbon dioxide. As a result of this, Venus is the hottest place in the solar system bar the Sun itself.

The closest planet to the Sun is Mercury, some 58 million kilometres away, here the average temperature is 179°C. By contrast, Venus is nearly twice as far away at 109 million kilometres but the temperature is 466°C. If it wasn’t for the fact that the Venusian atmosphere is primarily composed of CO2 the temperature would be nearly 400°C cooler.

So to answer your question “In places with high Co2 levels, does it increase the temperature”, the answer is yes it does – very much so.

Over the last half million years, our climate has experienced long ice ages regularly punctuated by brief warm periods called interglacials. Atmospheric carbon dioxide closely matches the cycle, increasing by around 80 to 100 parts per million as Antarctic temperatures warm up to 10°C. However, when you look closer, CO2 actually lags temperature by around 1000 years. While this result was predicted two decades ago (Lorius 1990), it still surprises and confuses many. Does warming cause CO2 rise or the other way around? In actuality, the answer is both.

Oh dear, yet again someone who doesn't actually read the sources they post, the 95% figure refers to soil that is pretty clearly stated early in the article. I am not aware of any theory concerning CO2 being affected underground, as Trevor states if you want to see the example of a planet that does look to Venus, perhaps you guys could start a new theory that Venus is actually cold and it's all part of Gores conspiracy to pretend it's 460°c there maybe you could say he has bought a beach house there as well.

Yes, Co2 gas is a greenhouse gas. And when it is such high concentration, it can easily displace normal air because of its higher density, and cover the surface of the atmosphere.

And greenhouse gases have the property of stopping heat from the sun being reflected back out into space.

So, yes Co2 increases the temperature.

In fact, there is higher concentrations of CO2 in urban areas than in rural areas and it does contribute to the urban heat island effect. Air conditioners do not to any meaningful extent. The heat from air conditioners is very small compared with that of the sun and even though they use electricity, not all electricity is produced using fossil fuels and most coal plants are not in urban areas. However, some older air conditioners do leak refrigerant.

If an increase of Co2 concentrations by 108 ppm raises the global average by .74 degrees, then logically, concentrations of 950,000 ppm should raise the temperature there by 7030 degrees.

The Earth makes more of it then the power company's and Cars.

Look up the word "global" in a dictionary.