CARBON DIOXIDE AS A NATURAL GAS

In my last post I presented carbon dioxide as the notorious greenhouse gas. In this post I intend to present carbon dioxide as a naturally occurring gas on Earth. Carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas is as a result of human-generated activities here on Earth.

In other posts I have indicated that the natural environment comprises of two main parts; the organic and the inorganic. The inorganic component is further divided into three parts. The three parts are water, earth and atmosphere. The atmosphere is the air surrounding the Earth. The atmosphere is made up of several gases. Carbon dioxide is one of them. It is a trace gas. It means it is present in a small quantity. The gaseous composition of the atmosphere is as follows:

NO	NAME OF GAS	PERCENTAGE
01	Nitrogen	78.08
02	Oxygen	20.95
03	Argon	0.93
04	Xenon	0.000009
05	Neon	0.0018
06	Hydrogen	0.00005
07	Helium	0.0005
08	Krypton	0.0001
09	Carbon Dioxide	0.038

Carbon dioxide is a colorless and odorless gas which is indispensable in life here on Earth. The chemical formula for carbon dioxide is CO₂. That is one carbon atom connects to two atoms of oxygen to form carbon dioxide. Some sources are: volcanoes, geyser, groundwater, lakes, rivers, glaciers, icecaps, petroleum, natural gas and seawater.

As indicated, carbon dioxide is indispensable in life here on Earth. In photosynthesis, the process by which food is prepared for plants, plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and oxygen is released as a byproduct. In the carbon cycle, carbon dioxide is circulated in the environment to living organisms needing it, and to ensure the maintenance of the right quantity of carbon dioxide in the environment. In human respiration, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere and plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Now I am going to get into details, item by item, on how carbon dioxide is indispensable in life here on Earth.

RESPIRATION

Let us take human respiration for example. Respiration in simple terms is the taking in of oxygen into the body and the release of carbon dioxide out of the body. The oxygen is taken into the body through the nose, and carbon dioxide is released out of the body through the nose and mouth. Through respiration metabolism takes place. Metabolism allows for growth, generation of energy and elimination of waste in the body. Elimination of carbon dioxide into atmosphere allows for fresh intake of oxygen. Metabolism generates energy for the heart to beat. Metabolism generates energy to enable you to breathe in and out. The process of respiration allows you to get energy to get out of bed, get into your car and drive it wherever possible. We may deduce this formula from the foregoing: Respiration⇉ Metabolism⇉ Life. When carbon dioxide is inhaled together with oxygen, what the carbon dioxide does to the oxygen is to dilute it to make it absorbable by the body. Oxygen in its concentrated form can be poisonous to the body. If carbon dioxide is not exhaled from the body, and it is trapped in it, it becomes poison. The carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere during exhalation is used by plants in photosynthesis.

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

Let me use the Oxford Advance Learner’s dictionary to define the term in a simple way. The dictionary says photosynthesis is the process by which green plants turn CARBON DIOXIDE and water into food using energy obtained from light from the sun. The dictionary itself indicated the word carbon dioxide in capital letters, I guess to show how important the gas is in the process of photosynthesis. You know what food does to living organisms, I suppose? It nourishes them. As humans we depend on plants and animals for food. If you are a vegetarian you depend on plants only for food. Therefore, without carbon dioxide there would be no plant life, and without plant life there would be no human life. Take your breakfast for example. All the items that constitute your breakfast come from plants, directly or indirectly. Cornflakes, wheat bran, porridge, orange juice, milk, lettuce, carrot, butter, cheese, peanut, waakye, banku, akplɛ, yɔɔ kɛ gari, kɔmi kɛ ʆitɔ, tuo zaafi etc. (from waakye to tuo zaafi are delicious Ghanaian dishes; Ghana is in West Africa). Without food that we get from plants, directly or indirectly, you should not get the energy to think, reason, make decisions, innovate and create things; there would be a collapse of civilization. And remember carbon dioxide plays an important part in the growth of the food we eat to sustain our lives.

CARBON CYCLE

The carbon cycle as indicated involves the circulation carbon dioxide in the natural environment for use by living organisms. I have also indicated the source of carbon dioxide in the natural environment. Some of their sources are groundwater, lakes, sea water, icecaps, glaciers etc. Note that the sources form the inorganic component of the natural environment. Also, note that it is the organic things that use the carbon dioxide. Under the caption ‘respiration’ of this post I have indicated the function of carbon dioxide in human respiration. Further, I have stated the importance of carbon dioxide in photosynthesis, the process by which plant food is prepared. In human respiration carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere as a byproduct, and in photosynthesis carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is absorbed by plants and oxygen is released into the atmosphere as a byproduct. This in itself is a cycle. Oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Some living organisms in the oceans use the carbon dioxide. I have not explicitly mentioned fossil fuel as a source of carbon dioxide. It is definitely a source of carbon dioxide. The fossil fuels are coal, oil and gas. During combustion they produce carbon dioxide. It is generally accepted that starting from the industrial revolution in 1750, overdependence on fossil fuel by man has generated so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to result in the current global warming. The carbon dioxide has become so much that the carbon cycle cannot contained it. So there is the need for the right quantum of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to get equilibrium in the carbon cycle.

Summation: carbon dioxide as an anthropogenic(human generated) greenhouse gas is causing fatal destruction of the natural environment; however carbon dioxide as a natural gas is vitally important for the sustenance of living things in the natural environment, and for equilibrium in the carbon cycle.

Reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide