Yeah But… CO₂ Is Natural
- Gregory Andrews
- Jun 23
- 2 min read
This is the latest instalment in my “Yeah But…” blog series - where I unpack climate denialists’ lazy and misleading excuses.
So far, we’ve tackled:
And now:
“Yeah but… CO₂ is natural. We need it. Trees breathe it!”
Yes, CO₂ is natural.
Yes, plants need it.
But that’s not the full story. And it’s a long way from a justification for burning fossil fuels.
1. Poison is natural too. So is arsenic.
“Natural” doesn’t always mean “good.” CO₂ is essential for life, just like water and sunlight.
But too much of it in the wrong place - and at the wrong rate - can be dangerous.
In fact, what makes CO₂ so dangerous is exactly that: it’s invisible, odourless, and naturally occurring. But at high concentrations, it acts like a heat-trapping blanket over the Earth.
We’ve increased atmospheric CO₂ by over 50% since the Industrial Revolution. That’s not “natural.” That’s human-caused.
2. We’re adding it faster than Earth’s systems can absorb it.
The Earth has natural carbon cycles - CO₂ is absorbed by oceans, forests, and soils, and released again in balance. That system worked for hundreds of thousands of years.
Then we started burning fossil fuels. Now, we’re dumping more than 35 billion tonnes of CO₂ into the atmosphere every year - much faster than the Earth can draw it back down.
It’s like tipping water into a bathtub with the drain partially blocked. Unless you turn the tap down, it overflows.
3. Yes plants “breathe” CO₂. But they can’t save us.
Some people argue more CO₂ will help crops grow. But the reality is more complex:
Yes, some plants may grow faster with more CO₂.
No, that doesn’t mean they’re healthier - or that they will store the extra carbon forever.
And, higher CO₂ often means lower nutritional value in food crops, which affects humans and animals alike.
But worse, climate change also brings heatwaves, droughts, floods, and pests - which all undermine plant growth. So no, we can’t plant our way out of this.
4. This argument is a distraction. And that’s the point.
Saying “CO₂ is natural” is like arguing that fire is natural - so arson can’t be bad.
It’s not just wrong. It’s designed to confuse. The truth is simple. Too much CO₂ in the atmosphere causes global heating. We’re emitting it at dangerous, unprecedented levels. And unless we act, the consequences will keep getting worse.
Bottom line:
CO₂ is natural. But let’s not kid ourselves that just because something’s “natural,” it’s harmless. And let’s stop letting fossil fuel lobbyists use science-lite soundbites to distract us from ensuring a safe future for our kids and country.
My kids and I rewatched Apollo 13 the other day. There is a whole scene where CO2 is - accurately - described as a poison, as the astronauts slowly suffocate due to malfunctioning CO2 scrubbers. I honestly don't think that scene would be made today, such is the insidious influence of the fossil fuel industry.
Planting trees has plenty of benefits, but this popular carbon-removal method alone can’t possibly counteract the planet-warming emissions caused by the world’s largest fossil-fuel companies. To do that, trees would have to cover the entire land mass of North and Central America, according to a study out Thursday.
Another great piece and hopefully people are listening, but even then do they understand to the point of taking action. It looks like our community group, will link up to a much larger one in Georgia whose HQ is Tbilisi. It seems that what we are doing is of some interest and vice versa.