What 400 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere looks like

The results are in, and it looks like this.

1what_400_PPM_looks_like

UPDATE: By popular request, our representative to the “Union of Concerned Scientists” has been added to panel #2 at top. – Anthony

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Jimbo
May 7, 2013 6:10 pm

Co2 at 400ppm or 500ppm or even 900ppm will cause total madness. These people must think we are idiots.

“…a 30-minute exposure at 50,000 ppm produces signs of intoxication,… ”
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/idlh/124389.html

By the way, 10 times the current level of co2 failed to stop the Ordovician ice age.

Jimbo
May 7, 2013 6:14 pm

John Parsons, please see:
http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/PageMill_Images/image277.gif
http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/Carboniferous_climate.html
Your points are invalidated by the paleo evidence. You may wish to proceed but there will be more to follow where I leave off. I am going to bed now as it is 1am for me. Think before you leap.

SAMURAI
May 7, 2013 6:15 pm

What does 400ppm look like?
For many farmers in the Northern Hemisphere, it means one of the coldest and longest winters in recorded history, delayed planting, greatly reduced crop yields, higher crop prices and for consumers, higher food prices.
It also means record late “Spring” snowstorms in Canada and the US and it means I’m still wearing my winter jacket as of May 08 on the beach south of Tokyo, when I usually need to be running my air-conditioner by this time of the year…..
When I mention this to friends, they simply mention the old bromide that, “weather isn’t climate”. When I reply that there hasn’t been any statistically significant warming into the 17th year, my friends reply with the new meme, “The last 10 years are ranked the highest in human history! What am I talking about?”
And so it goes…..until it doesn’t….

atarsinc
May 7, 2013 6:16 pm

Bob Diaz says:
May 7, 2013 at 5:54 pm
Bob, Your figures may be right for some plants, but certainly not all. Additionally, plants only do better with more CO2 if there is a concomitant rise in water and sunlight. How plants react to increased CO2 is inextricably related to many climate factors. The University of Arizona has done some great research on the subject that you might be interested in.
Like all Earth systems, it’s way more complicated than saying plants like more CO2. JP

David L. Hagen
May 7, 2013 6:19 pm

Three cheers for CO2 – more plant food to help the 2 billion desperately poor and the 1 billion extremely poor to feed themselves.
US Congress’ mandating corn to fuel is starving the extremely poor. ~192,000 in 2010 and more since.
Indur Goklany, Could Biofuel Policies Increase Death and Disease in Developing Countries

The National Academy of Sciences estimated that globally biofuels expansion accounted for 20-40% of the price increases seen in 2007-8, when prices of many food crops doubled. Net-food-importing developing countries were particularly hard-hit. In an earlier paper, we estimated that from 2006-2011 U.S. ethanol expansion cost Mexico about $1.5 billion due to ethanol-related corn price increases. Here we apply the same methodology to estimate the global impacts. We estimate the six-year costs to net corn importing countries at $11.6 billion, with developing countries absorbing more than half of those costs. We examine the negative impacts on the poor in net corn exporting countries. We recommend reforms to U.S. biofuels policies.. . .
A number of Arab and Northern African countries that have experienced social unrest in recent years – Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Libya – also experienced high ethanol-related costs, perhaps an indicator of the contribution of rising food prices to political instability. . . .
With poverty rates at 65% and extreme poverty at 38%, there is little question that U.S. ethanol expansion contributes to poverty and food insecurity in this net corn exporting country (Uganda), albeit in ways that are difficult to quantify because of the difficulties associated with estimating price transmission accurately.. . .
If the U.S. ethanol mandate is effectively taking back the value of U.S. food and agricultural assistance to developing countries, then U.S. biofuels policies are potentially undermining our own aid goals.

Timothy A. Wise, The Cost to Developing Countries of U.S. Corn Ethanol Expansion, GDAE Working Paper No. 12-02, October 2012
Conclusion: “Green policy” = Fatten the rich to starve the poor to buy votes.

Brian R
May 7, 2013 6:19 pm

Here’s another way to look at it.
Atmosphere = 100%. CO2 = 0.0004% (about as much interest my bank is currently paying on a savings account). It has increased 0.00005% in the last 150 years or an average of 0.00000033% per year.

atarsinc
May 7, 2013 6:20 pm

fhhaynie says
FH, you don’t need to model every atom of water in a tea kettle to know it gets hot when you put it on the stove. JP

atarsinc
May 7, 2013 6:24 pm

Brian R says:
May 7, 2013 at 6:19 pm
“Here’s another way to look at it.”
And here’s another: Your cup of tea=99.99% H2O, Ricin= .0004%. Your dead. JP

atarsinc
May 7, 2013 6:27 pm

Jimbo says
Think before you sleep. JP

atarsinc
May 7, 2013 6:34 pm

Jumbo, By the way, I personally corresponded with Dr. Berner about the outdated (his words) graph of his that you showed. He said that we have learned that the values shown are far from those of research done since his work years ago. Talk to him yourself. he’s a nice guy. JP

atarsinc
May 7, 2013 6:35 pm

Sorry Jimbo, Spellcheck did that not me. JP

KevinK
May 7, 2013 6:36 pm

John Parsons wrote;
“The last time carbon dioxide levels were as high as they are today — and were sustained at those levels — global temperatures were 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit higher than they are today, the sea level was approximately 75 to 120 feet higher than today, there was no permanent sea ice cap in the Arctic and very little ice on Antarctica and Greenland,”
CORRELATION is such a cool toy, like a Frisbee ™ but so much more powerful, I don’t remember anybody predicting if it will rain tomorrow based on were the Frisbee landed today.
So far for every day of my adult life the Sun was up within an hour or two (plus or minus a tad bit) of the time I woke up. You should all be grateful I am an early riser. I would hate to see you all in the dark until I woke up. Oh jeeeze what happens if I ever switch to the night shift ? /sarc off
Cheers, Kevin

May 7, 2013 6:50 pm

atarsinc says:
May 7, 2013 at 6:24 pm
Brian R says:
May 7, 2013 at 6:19 pm
“Here’s another way to look at it.”
And here’s another: Your cup of tea=99.99% H2O, Ricin= .0004%. Your dead. JP

Ricin is a deadly toxin. CO2 is essential for life; lots more is fine. You’re [correct construction] a troll.
/Mr Lynn

May 7, 2013 6:56 pm

Go into a greenhouse (a real one, where veggies, not AGW nut cases, are grown) enriched to 1,500 ppm CO2 . What does that look like?

andy
May 7, 2013 7:01 pm

Maybe it could have another box, “what the global thermometer thinks …” showing the IPCC temp models vs data. Perhaps lengthwise, along the bottom.

May 7, 2013 7:01 pm

Hagen –
192,000 dead sounds like mass murder to me (that ain’t all – just 2010 alone).
The ethanol program proceeds from global warming alarmism.
Global warming alarmism is mass murder.
Therefore, the ethanol program is mass murder.
Global warming alarmists are mass murderers.
They should be dealt with accordingly.

andy
May 7, 2013 7:03 pm

And what the EU carbon price thinks it looks like, as an exploding bomb, if you need another box to balance.

atarsinc
May 7, 2013 7:03 pm

KevinK says
I won’t pretend to understand all of your “sarcasm”. But regarding the correlation: THAT was the topic. David brought up the correlation and I showed that THAT correlation was incorrect.
JP

nick
May 7, 2013 7:05 pm

data doesnt ‘look like’ that. you need from zero on vertical axis to see ‘looks like’

atarsinc
May 7, 2013 7:06 pm

Chad Wozniak says: Global Warming Alarmists are “mass murders” and should be “dealt with accordingly”. Pray tell, Chad, how would you suggest they be “dealt with”? JP

Robert in Calgary
May 7, 2013 7:15 pm

A link I’ve provided before….
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/00-077.htm
“Ambient CO2 level in outside air is about 340 ppm by volume. All plants grow well at this level but as CO2 levels are raised by 1,000 ppm photosynthesis increases proportionately resulting in more sugars and carbohydrates available for plant growth. Any actively growing crop in a tightly clad greenhouse with little or no ventilation can readily reduce the CO2 level during the day to as low as 200 ppm. The decrease in photosynthesis when CO2 level drops from 340 ppm to 200 ppm is similar to the increase when the CO2 levels are raised from 340 to about 1,300 ppm (Figure 1). As a rule of thumb, a drop in carbon dioxide levels below ambient has a stronger effect than supplementation above ambient.
During particular times of the year in new greenhouses, and especially in double-glazed structures that have reduced air exchange rates, the carbon dioxide levels can easily drop below 340 ppm which has a significant negative effect on the crop. Ventilation during the day can raise the CO2 levels closer to ambient but never back to ambient levels of 340 ppm. Supplementation of CO2 is seen as the only method to overcome this deficiency and increasing the level above 340 ppm is beneficial for most crops.
The level to which the CO2 concentration should be raised depends on the crop, light intensity, temperature, ventilation, stage of the crop growth and the economics of the crop. For most crops the saturation point will be reached at about 1,000–1,300 ppm under ideal circumstances. A lower level (800–1,000 ppm) is recommended for raising seedlings (tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers) as well as for lettuce production. Even lower levels (500–800 ppm) are recommended for African violets and some Gerbera varieties. Increased CO2 levels will shorten the growing period (5%–10%), improve crop quality and yield, as well as, increase leaf size and leaf thickness. The increase in yield of tomato, cucumber and pepper crops is a result of increased numbers and faster flowering per plant.”

kadaka (KD Knoebel)
May 7, 2013 7:18 pm

400 parts per million:
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Manfred
May 7, 2013 7:19 pm

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921818112001658#gr1
The phase relation between atmospheric carbon dioxide and global temperature
Humluma et al. Global and Planetary Change Volume 100, January 2013, Pages 51–69
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2012.08.008
It seems the phase relation grows daily tighter?

atarsinc
May 7, 2013 7:21 pm

Mr Lynn says:
The point is not that ricin is healthy. The point is: assuming that, because the absolute value of a substance is small, it is therefore inconsequential, is not a good assumption.
Someone is not a “troll” just because you disagree with their position. I won’t call you names. I would appreciate the same courtesy. JP

May 7, 2013 7:22 pm

400ppm? Let’s get pished!