Rising CO2 in Human Blood Signals Toxic Atmosphere Within 50 Years
CO2 overload, detected in human blood, suggests toxic atmosphere within 50 years
I analyzed U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 1999 to 2020, revealing that rising atmospheric carbon dioxide is directly altering human blood chemistry. Bicarbonate levels are climbing while calcium and phosphorus drop, mirroring global CO2 trends. If unchecked, these shifts could push blood values to unhealthy limits within half a century, signaling a toxic atmosphere that demands immediate emission reductions.
If these trends continue, blood bicarbonate values could be at the limit of the accepted healthy range in half a century, and Ca and P will be at the limit of their healthy ranges by the end of this century.
- jvanderbot
One interesting thing in the paper that I didn't think of, is that our breathing mechanism is tied to CO2 levels. And therefore, higher CO2 levels (not atmospheric high, but artificially high during studies), can trigger panic attacks and general stress. A slow suffocation hallucination, kind of. Even when there's still sufficient oxygen, your body doesn't "measure" oxygen!
I didn't know that!
- strictnein
"Toxic atmosphere" definitely implies something that I don't seem to be finding in the actual paper. We regularly sit in environments that are 2-3x the levels of atmospheric CO2.
Also, was this paper AI written?
> "There is now a considerable body of published data showing impacts at levels < 1,000ppm CO2, although the effects of exposure remain controversial."
Which is followed by this, with the very AI "For example" that seems to mostly contradict that statement?
> "For example, one study found no impact of exposure to levels up to 15,000 ppm (Rodeheffer et al., 2018), however the study population was a group of highly trained US Navy submariners. Conversely, studies in young adults (Satish et al., 2012), office workers (Allen et al., 2016) and university staff/students (Snow et al., 2019) showed negative effects at CO2 levels as low as 950 ppm."
And then "Such studies are supported by assessment of CO2-induced changes in human brainwaves, measured by electroencephalography (EEG) combined with cognitive tests (reviewed in (Zhang et al., 2024)). Such studies show that exposure to CO2 between 1,000 and 2,500 ppm results in heightened brain activity."
"Such studies" ... "such studies". And these studies seem to contradict the proceeding statement even more?
- timr
This is such a bad paper. They take the NHANES data, average it for all participants, don’t bother controlling for things that have far more direct relevance to individual bicarbonate levels (e.g. diabetes, antacid use), and just assert that an observed correlation is causative.
- CrzyLngPwd
What are we, the powerless people, supposed to do with that as we watch super yachts, private jets, and armies bomb oil storage and gas pipelines?
My office, with the window open, surrounded by trees and in the countryside, and the nearest large town being 20 miles away, shows 422ppm CO2 pretty consistently.
- himata4113
Humans are extremely adaptable, for example there's people who work in extreme conditions underwater, what would be considered absolutely unbearable and torture is normal. More information on saturation diving: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfiHc_rh4EY
We're already slowly adapting to higher CO2 levels by sitting mostly indoors that have elevated CO2 from 500 to 800 with ranges up to 1500 (taken from my measurements at home).
Claiming that it would be toxic doesn't pass the most basic checks that humanity experience already.