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posted by martyb on Monday February 17 2020, @08:50AM   Printer-friendly
from the Bring-on-the-bottled-air dept.

The world's carbon-dioxide problem doesn't just affect the atmosphere — the gas is starting to fill our homes, schools, and offices, too.

Indoor levels of the gas are projected to climb so high, in fact, that they could cut people's ability to do complex cognitive tasks in half by the end of the century.

That prediction comes from three scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Pennsylvania, who presented their findings last week at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. The study is still under peer review but available online in the repository Earth ArXiv.

The findings show that, if global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions continue to rise on their current trajectory, the concentration of CO2 in the air could more than double by 2100. Based on measurements of how humans function in spaces with that much CO2, the scientists warn, we could find ourselves scoring 50% lower on measures of complex thought by the end of the century.


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  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday February 17 2020, @01:41PM (9 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Monday February 17 2020, @01:41PM (#959146)

    Scrubbers (rebreathers), face masks, SCUBA - Self Contained Urban Breathing Apparatus, building scale CO2 scrubbing and O2 concentrating, oxygen bars. Too early to invest, but they are all long term growth markets.

    --
    🌻🌻 [google.com]
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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday February 17 2020, @01:47PM (8 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday February 17 2020, @01:47PM (#959150) Journal

    I prefer to telecommute from my glass house full of plants, thank you.
    Cheaper and less harmful for the environ.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday February 17 2020, @02:25PM (7 children)

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Monday February 17 2020, @02:25PM (#959163)

      When the sun goes down those plants churn out CO2 in your house... however, I, too prefer the telecommute and have not yet put the brakes on my wife's houseplant hobbsession.

      --
      🌻🌻 [google.com]
      • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday February 17 2020, @04:26PM (3 children)

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday February 17 2020, @04:26PM (#959198) Journal

        When the sun goes down those plants churn out CO2 in your house...

        Solar water heating and PV+storage+ keeps them producing.

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday February 17 2020, @08:50PM (2 children)

          by JoeMerchant (3937) on Monday February 17 2020, @08:50PM (#959276)

          I really like the idea of solar panels powering LED grow lights in the house - I don't think the plants would appreciate having their day-night cycle erased, though.

          --
          🌻🌻 [google.com]
          • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday February 17 2020, @09:16PM (1 child)

            by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday February 17 2020, @09:16PM (#959290) Journal

            Happens all the time in clean-rooms in Japan, they grow E. Coli free lettuce [google.com]

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            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
            • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 18 2020, @02:09AM

              by JoeMerchant (3937) on Tuesday February 18 2020, @02:09AM (#959395)

              True enough, and Alaska grows some record sized vegetables due to the long summer sun hours... Still doesn't "feel" right, but it can work well with a lot of species.

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              🌻🌻 [google.com]
      • (Score: 2, Flamebait) by captain normal on Monday February 17 2020, @05:13PM (2 children)

        by captain normal (2205) on Monday February 17 2020, @05:13PM (#959211)

        Makes me wonder if the CO2 levels in your office/house may be too high.
        Me thinks you need a refresher course in Photosynthesis:
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthesis [wikipedia.org]

        --
        When life isn't going right, go left.
        • (Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 17 2020, @06:48PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 17 2020, @06:48PM (#959242)

          The clue your looking for is cellular respiration. During the day it is offset by photosynthesis, and st night there is a net export of CO2 from the plants. It is a tiny amount, but the original joke holds up regardless.

          Can you conservatives just go to school already? Science isn't like software, accuracy matters more than StackOverflow's goodnuff copy/paste.

          • (Score: 2) by captain normal on Wednesday February 19 2020, @12:44AM

            by captain normal (2205) on Wednesday February 19 2020, @12:44AM (#959723)

            That was a joke? Somehow I missed that. But the real joke is you thinking of me as a conservative. You don't seem to have paid any attention to my postings here for the last 6 years, have you? I truly believe in a social democracy much like my friends in Northern Europe (Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and now since fall of the Russian Empire, Estonia and Poland have. The only thing I disagree with in all the front running Democratic candidates is gun control. To me gun control is a tight groping at 200 meters.

            --
            When life isn't going right, go left.