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You are of course correct.

CO2 is a byproduct of ventilation. The lungs (alveoli) have a strong affinity for Carbon Dioxide, much greater than the attraction of O2. It is not exactly the inhalation of CO2 that is the problem but rather the inability to get it out of your system as part of regular metabolism. This is referred to as ‘ventilation.’

The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is practically that of a ‘trace gas.’ Close to 99% of the atmosphere is Oxygen and Nitrogen. If a person is unable to eliminate CO2 from their system, this is a life threatening emergency.

It has been probably 14 years ago and my kids were getting all of the climate change propaganda, so it was a good chance for me to do my research and teach them. The various gases have different “greenhouse” effects - so while CO2 and methane are both greenhouse gases, methane's effect is something like 4(?) times more powerful.

Anyway - the effect of the TOTAL (iirc) amount of CO2 in the air (natural and manmade) was about .25%. I got 100 pennies out, trying to find the darkest ones. I put wite-out on one of the pennies and covered up 1/4 of it. Spread them out on the table and asked my kids if all of the fuss about this speck of white was worth changing our entire economy over and ruling our lives.

That said, I also talked to them about being good stewards of the earth and that we need to take care of our environment. But is this really where we should be spending so much money and effort on?