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Archived Rebuttal
This is the archived Basic rebuttal to the climate myth "CO2 is not a pollutant". Click here to view the latest rebuttal.
What the science says...
| A single substance can be both a pollutant and a non-pollutant. It all depends on context. |
Most people intuitively understand what pollution is. Furthermore, a substance that causes pollution is called a pollutant. Although many substances are either a pollutant or they aren't, some can paradoxically be both: it all depends on context.
No-one, for example, would argue against the fact that nitrogen is an essential nutrient for crops, yet too much of it (through agricultural runoff and fossil-fuel burning) can deplete oceans of oxygen and cause other harmful effects on ecosystems.
A similar line of reasoning can be brought to CO2. It's essential for life - keeping the planet from freezing, growing plants etc - yet too much can upset the Earth's natural balance and cause ocean acidification and global warming.
Updated on 2010-11-14 by steve.oconnor.
THE ESCALATOR
(free to republish)