Facebook user Shore Shanidze, whose pieces of disinformation have been verified by FactCheck multiple times in the past (1, 2, 3) disseminated another piece of false information. The publication reads: “Climate crisis – this is precisely on the contrary – decreased amount of CO2. It absolutely contradicts to what the UN and globalists in general seek to convince the mankind!!!” The author of the post also claims that level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been declining continuously and very soon, as result of this, vegetational cover will not survive. In fact, the level of CO2 and other greenhouse gases is on the rise which contributes to global warming and poses danger to the mankind.
Carbon dioxide CO2, as well as methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), are greenhouse gases and contribute to the greenhouse effect on Earth. When the sun's rays warm the earth, the earth sends the heat back into the atmosphere, while the aforementioned greenhouse gases trap the heat and keep the earth warm. Due to the fact that today people burn oil and coal, more greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere, the so-called Greenhouse "blanket" gets thicker, and the earth gets even hotter, which causes melting of ice and weather disturbances. In general, the greenhouse effect is necessary for life on earth, but the excessive thickness of the greenhouse gas layer causes climate change.
Provision N1: “You have probably heard from the UN’s high tribune about the necessity to combat the release of CO2 into the atmosphere and to achieve its zero level by 2030!”
In this provision, the author refers to the UN’s Net Zero Coalition initiative, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but the facts related to it are distorted in the post. First of all, the aforementioned initiative does not mean only the reduction of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, but also the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in general.
At the same time, the Net Zero initiative does not involve reducing absolute levels of greenhouse gases. The earth naturally has the ability to both release and absorb greenhouse gases through oceans or forests. The goal of the aforementioned initiative is to reduce greenhouse gases to a balanced, zero level, when the earth will be able to absorb and self-regulate them independently. Currently, more greenhouse gases are being emitted than the Earth can regulate, resulting in global warming. In order for climate change on earth not to cause catastrophic consequences, the increase in global temperature should not exceed 1.5°C. For this, the Net Zero initiative aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030, and to reach zero by 2050.
Provision N2: During the last 140 million years, the CO2 level has been decreasing continuously and is about to reach the threshold beyond which the green vegetation will perish
In order to further illustrate this point, the author attaches to the post a graph published by the CO2 Coalition. The aforementioned coalition has been exposed numerous times in the past for disinformation about climate change (1, 2, 3, 4) and has close ties to oil and coal companies.
In fact, the claim that CO2 levels have been continuously decreasing for the past 140 million years is false. The aforementioned graph does not even shows the trend of the last two centuries, let alone the period modern human’s existence.
In fact, if the carbon dioxide level is 421.09 ppm today, it was 282.9 ppm in 1800, which is 33% less than today's level.
The levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are at their maximum for the last 800,000 years, which is confirmed by the latest scientific studies. Glaciers and Arctic sea ice are melting, while global temperatures and ocean acidity are rising. This threatens ecosystems. At the same time, number of natural disasters are on the rise.
Therefore, the publication’s claims that carbon dioxide levels are decreasing in the atmosphere and the UN aspires to bring them down to zero, is false.
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