Debate Intensifies Over Climate-Focused Environmental Policy and the Role of Carbon Dioxide

 An article published Sept. 11, 2026, by Watts Up With That? examines what it describes as a shift in environmental priorities away from traditional conservation concerns and toward a dominant focus on climate change. According to the article, carbon dioxide is beneficial for plants, and the climate change narrative is misleading. The piece further states that this narrative has been used to restrict domestic energy production.

The article's central argument is that environmentalism has been reframed around a single variable – atmospheric carbon dioxide – at the expense of other priorities such as pollution control, habitat protection, and access to clean water. It cites historical accounts of environmentalism that emphasize conservation and public health and contends that the current framework has narrowed the scope of environmental concern. 

The article states that carbon dioxide is required for photosynthesis and is beneficial to plant growth. According to the article, higher CO2 concentrations can increase plant productivity. A 2011 interim report on the Nongovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that an extra 450 ppm of CO2 increased the fresh weight of spinach shoots by about 67 percent and their dry weight by approximately 57 percent, and boosted soluble sugar concentrations by approximately 29 percent and soluble protein concentrations by about 52 percent.

Mainstream agencies classify CO2 as a pollutant, the article notes, while critics dispute that characterization. In 2009, the EPA issued an Endangerment Finding declaring carbon dioxide a pollutant; on January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled "Unleashing American Energy," directing EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to reassess that finding. A 2018 article argued that CO2 levels of 800 to 1,200 ppm would unleash reforestation, greening, and food crop production....<<<Read More>>>...

 

‘Supercharged’ Global Greening in African Savannah: CO2 Brings Huge Boost to Grass Growth

 Global greening is being supercharged in the African savannah, new research published in Nature has found, with higher CO2 levels driving a 28% increase in plant growth in just 32 years, writes Andrew Sibley.

More evidence of global greening from carbon dioxide fertilisation has been published in the prestigious publication Nature. The research involved 70 experiments and three decades of field data from many locations in the savannah of South Africa’s Kruger National Park. The international scientific team was led by Dr Kimberley Simpson of the University of Sheffield, the paper entitled ‘Increasing CO₂ levels fertilise C4 grass production‘. Phys.org reported the study as follows: ‘Rising carbon dioxide is supercharging grass growth in African savannas, study finds.’ The latest study challenges the previously held view that the dominant grasses in the savannah (known as ‘C4’) benefit little from rising levels of carbon dioxide...<<<Read More>>>....

Global Greening Hits New Record as Climate Emergency Fails to Materialise

Global mean vegetation greening reached a record high last year, extending an already significant multi-decade upward trend, according to recent findings published in Nature. In fact, 2025 set a record for global vegetation greening with a steepening of the average trend. Top of the list with 77.6% showing extra greening was croplands, meaning more food is becoming available to boost global diets.

This greening story – a tale that gets more impressive every year – is largely absent from the mainstream media. It was certainly missing from a recent climate contribution from Sandwich-board Stanley (a.k.a. Tim Stanley of the Telegraph) who made an unsourced claim that one third of the agricultural production of Bangladesh “is feared to vanish by 2050”. Happily, there is no sign of that invented fear coming true since agricultural production has more than doubled in the country since the turn of the century. Notes Stanley: “The evidence is stacking up – we only have to look out of our windows,” a comment that suggests journalists hired to broadcast opinions and beliefs should steer well clear of science where data and facts are given a higher priority.

Back in the real increasingly verdant world, the Nature-published scientists note that herbaceous ecosystems such as grasslands and crop fields dominate the greening signal. 72.1% of grasslands showed greening while the overall satellite data reveal 68.% of the total vegetation area showed improvement, up from the previous record set last year of 67.7%. Greening ‘hotspots’ were observed in southern Africa, southern South America, northern Australia, Europe, central North America and northern China. Some ‘browning’ was observed in eastern Siberia, and this was attributed to anomalously cold growing-season temperatures.

Food for Thought #983

 

Food for Thought #824

 

Climbing CO2 levels fuel agricultural triumph—and spark a climate debate

 Soaring carbon dioxide emissions, long branded as planetary poison, have paradoxically fueled a global “greening” of Earth’s vegetated areas—and made fruit crops hardier. The findings, analyzed alongside climate skepticism, reveal a scientific and political divide reshaping the climate change discourse. 

A groundbreaking study in Nature Climate Change revealed that up to half of Earth’s vegetated land has greened since 1982, with CO2 fertilization driving 70% of the change. This “greening” equates to an area twice the size of the United States, transforming landscapes from North Carolina strawberry fields to Iceland’s barren highlands.

Rising CO2 levels act as a “carbon fertilizer,” supercharging photosynthesis in plants. In greenhouses, tomato yields jump 80% when CO2 reaches 1,000 ppm—a level far above today’s 430 ppm—and strawberries gain extra sugars. Even space exploration benefits: elevated CO? boosts vitamin content in lettuce grown in simulated Martian conditions.

But the gains aren’t just in labs. Global warming itself aids agriculture. Extended growing seasons cut frost risks for orchards, with U.S. yields benefiting from a two-week longer growing period since the 1910s. Vulnerable crops like grapes and blueberries, which once perished in unseasonal freezes, now survive warmer springs...<<<Read More>>>...

CO2 revolutionizes greenhouse farming revolution globally, decentralizing the food supply

 As governments and corporate elites push draconian climate policies—carbon taxes, energy rationing, and forced deindustrialization—the truth about carbon dioxide (CO2) remains buried under layers of fearmongering. While activists scream about an “existential climate crisis,” farmers and scientists are quietly harnessing CO2 to multiply crop yields, defeat famine, and revolutionize agriculture. A groundbreaking study published in Horticulture Research shatters the mainstream narrative, proving that elevated CO2 levels turbocharge plant growth, delivering bountiful harvests in greenhouses worldwide. But don’t expect Al Gore or the UN climate experts to mention this. The climate industrial complex thrives on deception, not solutions. Meanwhile, CO2 is revolutionizing greenhouse farming, decentralizing the food supply, allowing communities to break free from corporate control over their food supply.

Key points:

• CO2 is a plant nutrient, not a "pollutant," and greenhouse growers deliberately inject it (up to 1000 ppm) to boost yields by 80% or more.
• China, Spain, and the U.S. are leading a greenhouse farming revolution, leveraging CO2 to grow food in deserts and urban wastelands—proof that emissions can feed the world.
• While the EPA shuts down power plants in the name of "climate change," farmers beg for more CO2 to combat global food shortages.
• Rising atmospheric CO2 (now ~420 ppm) is replenishing levels that were far higher during Earth’s most fertile epochs—long before SUVs existed.
• The climate cult’s war on CO2 is a war on human survival, sabotaging food security to advance a globalist control agenda....<<<Read More>>>...
  

Global Greening From Higher CO2 Hits “Striking” New Heights – but the Mainstream Media Won’t Tell You About It

 Significant new evidence has emerged of widespread and significant increases in plant vegetation across the Earth due to the recent rise of the trace gas carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Using what they describe as True Significant Trends – a workflow programme integrating sophisticated spatial and time-period data – a geographer and an agrobiologist in Spain found “robust quantitative evidence” of widespread global greening, describing it as “striking” – “with a significant portion of Earth’s terrestrial land surface showing measurable increases in vegetation cover over the last four decades”.

This is the CO₂ story that dare not print its tale in the mainstream media. Recent dramatic world vegetation boosts are easily tracked by satellite, and estimates of growth range around 14-20% over just 40 years. Recent scientific work has found the rate of greening has actually been increasing since the turn of the century. Ask Grok for recent coverage of this important trend in the BBC and Guardian, and the answer comes back with none since 2016. Global greening heads a long list of taboo subjects for captured journalists promoting the political Net Zero fantasy. Also on the not-to-do list is the pause of the Arctic sea ice extent since 2007, the continued strength of the Gulf Stream, record growth for three years of coral on the Great Barrier Reef and North American wildfires in the last 100 years running at barely a quarter of those recorded back to 1600....<<<Read More>>>...

The green revolution: How CO2 is saving the planet, not destroying it

 In an era dominated by climate alarmism and the relentless push for Net Zero policies, a growing body of scientific evidence is challenging the narrative that carbon dioxide (CO2) is a planetary villain. Peer-reviewed studies and respected scientists are now revealing that CO2 is not only harmless but actually beneficial to the Earth, driving a global greening phenomenon that is feeding the world and restoring biodiversity. Yet, this groundbreaking research is being systematically ignored by the mainstream media, which remains wedded to a politically motivated climate agenda.

Recent studies published by the CO2 Coalition and other independent scientific groups have shown that rising CO2 levels are not the existential threat they’ve been made out to be. In fact, the atmosphere is already “saturated” with CO2, meaning additional emissions have a negligible impact on global temperatures. This saturation effect, long argued by climate skeptics, explains why historical CO2 levels—10 to 15 times higher than today—did not lead to runaway warming. Instead, CO2 is proving to be a boon for plant life, driving a “green revolution” that is increasing agricultural yields and greening vast swaths of the planet...<<<Read More>>>...

CO2 is the GREENING molecule: New study shows how elevated CO2 levels increase vegetation growth and WATER AVAILABILITY in the Northern Hemisphere

The Democrat’s Green New Deal proposes a war on carbon dioxide, investing in methods to sequester this all-important atmospheric gas under the ground. However, according to new research, elevated CO2 levels are not only important for vegetation growth, but also play a role in maintaining water availability in the Northern Hemisphere. Artificial carbon capture and other geoengineering projects could be the main driving force behind wildfires, droughts and collapsing water tables in the Northern Hemisphere.

The study, published in Environmental Research Letters, reveals significant changes in the relationship between vegetation growth and water availability in the Northern Hemisphere's mid-latitudes over the past three decades. The research, led by Yang Song and colleagues, highlights the impact of elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) levels on this relationship, suggesting a closer relationship between vegetation growth and water availability than previously understood.

The very compound that the Democrats are targeting – CO2 – is actually the solution to preserving croplands, grasslands, forests and water supplies for growing populations....<<<Read More>>>...

Climate Scientists Hail Boost to Global Plant Growth From Higher CO2

 Both the quantity and nutritional value of plants is growing around the planet due to recent increases in carbon dioxide, claim the authors of an important new science paper. The recent rise in carbon dioxide during modern industrial times, from a period of dangerous denudation, is at the centre of worldwide fearmongering designed to enforce a Net Zero collectivisation. “In fact, the only clear result of increasing CO2 has been an overall greening of the Earth and increasing productivity of agricultural and forest crops,” state the authors.

Regular readers of the Daily Sceptic will be aware of the massive greening of the planet that has occurred over the last 40 years. Alas, this astonishing success story is inexplicably missing from most mainstream Net Zero-focused discourse. This latest paper is written by a group of scientists and published by the U.S.-based educational foundation CO2 Coalition. It is highly technical but it seeks to explain why the nutritional value of the world’s more abundant crops “can and will remain high as atmospheric CO2 concentrations increase towards values more representative of those existing throughout most of Earth’s history”. With CO2 levels considerably higher over most geological history, the current level of 425 parts per million (ppm) is much less than optimum for most plants, the experts observe.

For too long, note the scientists, atmospheric CO2 has been the nutrient in shortest supply holding back plant growth. “Rising atmospheric concentrations of CO2 have clearly been beneficial for the biosphere, agriculture, humanity and particularly for global food security at very low additional cost. Still higher concentrations will bring additional benefits,” they note. The CO2 Coalition, supported by the work of atmospheric scientists like Emeritus Professor William Happer of Princeton, has long argued that CO2 becomes ‘saturated’ at certain levels in the atmosphere. At higher levels its warming properties diminish rapidly. Due to this ‘saturation’, which helps explain why atmospheric CO2 concentrations been up to 20 times higher in the past without the planet turning into a fireball, “man-made CO2 emissions are not capable of triggering dangerous future warming”....<<<Read More>>>...

Geological records show correlation between falling CO2 levels and mass extinction events

The geological time scale (GTS) contains certain eras where CO2 levels were historically high due to thriving plant life, and also contains periods where CO2 levels were catastrophically low, which correlate with mass extinction events and the inability of certain species to adapt. The climate and botanical history during these eras and the volcanic and seismic events that occurred over these periods indicate the all-important influence of atmospheric CO2 levels over life on Earth. This history of the CO2 cycle and its natural sequestration has implications for the survival of entire species.

Today, globalists seek to interfere with CO2 levels using large scale geoengineering experiments. These globalists hope to achieve a “Net Zero” future by sequestering carbon into the ground and reducing this essential compound to zero. Certain eras in the GTS show that this is a path toward devastation and the destruction of multiple species over time.

The geological time scale (GTS) is a historic time scale based on the Earth’s rock record. It classifies eras throughout the Earth’s history spanning hundreds of millions of years. The GTS is a chronological dating system that relies on chronostratigraphic (the study of how strata relate to time) as well as geochronological (a scientific field of study that focuses on determining the age of rock). It’s primarily used by earth scientists (e.g., geologist, paleontologist, geophysicist, geochemist, etc.) to explain the timing and relationship of events in geological history. The geological time scale has evolved over time by studying rock layers and their relationships, as well as identifying features like lithologies and paleomagnetic characteristics, as well as fossils.

During the Devonian Period, (around 400 million years ago) CO2 levels were over 2000 ppm. Compared to today’s records, CO2 concentrations were five times greater at this point in the geological time scale. Because of this abundance in CO2, plants rapidly spread across the land and rapidly diversified. Paleontologists refer to this time as the Devonian Explosion. As plant life multiplied, marine species also flourished, giving the Devonian period the nickname, the Age of Fishes. By the end of this era, the boom of photosynthesizing plants had reduced CO2 concentrations drastically, giving rise to a new era rich with atmospheric oxygen. Back then, atmospheric oxygen levels reached 35%, compared to today’s level of 21%. Amphibians that breathed oxygen through their skin were better adapted to this climate. Giant arthropods thrived during this time...<<<Read More>>>...

More and more climate scientists favor HIGHER CO2 levels because they benefit plant life

When weather events naturally occur, the climate change cult correlate the hurricanes, wildfires, heat waves and floods with an abstract concept called climate change. Scary climate change propaganda permeates the airways, and we’re never quite doing enough as a collective to solve this crisis!

Carbon dioxide is portrayed as the boogeyman, the ultimate pollutant bringing about our collective demise. However, behind all the noise of climate change doom and the end-of-the-world global warming prophecies, lies an overwhelming body of evidence that portends the complete opposite.

A growing number of climate scientists actually favor higher CO2 levels because carbon dioxide has always benefited plant life, thereby supporting all life on the planet..<<<Read More>>>...

CO2 SAVES THE PLANET: Research confirms that high levels of carbon dioxide result in “global greening” as forests and food crops flourish

 [Natural News]: Plants were efficient absorbers of carbon dioxide during the early Miocene – a period with high levels of carbon dioxide, found a study published in the journal Climate of the Past.

Researchers from New Zealand analyzed plant fossils from a former lake and discovered that the levels of carbon dioxide at the time exceeded those recorded today. They added that Miocene plants had features that equipped them to grow in drier and hotter climate. With such enhanced plants, the high carbon levels provided a “forest fertilization effect.”

These findings are useful in the context of today’s rising levels of carbon dioxide. With the study’s reconstruction of early Miocene as an analog, they provide a picture of the world several years from now.

The Miocene epoch was a time marked by global warming. It occurred from about 23 to 5.3 million years ago and is credited for the appearance of grasslands and kelp forests, underwater ecosystems that are dense with the plant kelp.

During Miocene, global temperatures rose after a period of global cooling in the preceding epoch. Ice largely disappeared at the poles and land became more arid. It is estimated that Earth was 37-44 F hotter than today.

While experts agree that temperatures rose at the time, the levels of carbon dioxide were hotly debated. Some experts contended that carbon levels were around 300 parts per million (ppm) – near the same amount before the Industrial Revolution started. Others estimated that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached 400 ppm, which is around today’s global average.

“Evidence has been building that carbon dioxide was high then, but there have been paradoxes,” said lead author Tammo Reichgelt, a scientist at Columbia University....<<<Read The Full Article Here>>>...

Freeman Dyson: The whole Earth is greener as a result of increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

 According to the late Freeman Dyson, computer models do a good job of helping us understand climate but they do a very poor job of predicting it.

“As measured from space, the whole earth is growing greener as a result of carbon dioxide, so it’s increasing agricultural yields, it’s increasing the forests and it’s increasing growth in the biological world, and that’s more important and more certain than the effects on climate,” Dyson said during an interview with Conversations that Matter in 2015.

Freeman Dyson (1923-2020) was a British-born American theoretical physicist and mathematician known for his work in quantum field theory, astrophysics, random matrices, mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics, condensed matter physics, nuclear physics, and engineering. He was one of the most celebrated figures in 20th-century physics.

In 2006 Dyson published ‘The Scientist as Rebel’, in which he questioned the role of human activity in global warming. In a 2008 interview with Physics World, he said that the money being spent on addressing climate change should instead be targeted at “other problems that are more urgent and more important such as poverty, infectious diseases, public education and health.” He also said that thinking about the potential benefits of climate change “will not do us any harm.”

In 2015 he joined Stuart McNish host of Conversations that Matter. “There is man-made climate change,” he said. “It’s a question of how much and is it good or bad.”

“First of all, we don’t understand the details. It’s probably much less than it’s generally claimed and the most important thing is that there are huge non-climate effects of carbon dioxide which are overwhelmingly favourable [and] which are not taken into account,” he said. As measured by satellites, “the whole Earth is growing greener as a result of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.”

Dyson began studying the effects of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere on vegetation “37 years ago” i.e., in around 1978....<<<Read More>>>...

Carbon dioxide, nitrogen and climate change are greening the Earth

Carbon Dioxide (“CO2”), also known as “nature’s fertilizer,” has steadily been enriching Earth’s atmosphere, from 320 parts per million in 1970 to 365 parts in 2000, to more than 412 parts today. The evidence of a flourishing planet is plain to see, thanks to satellite imagery that has been monitoring the amount of greenery on the planet since 1979.

As noted in a 2016 Nature study that tracked the changes from 1982 to 2016, although Earth lost some tree cover where forests became farmlands, those losses were far exceeded by new forests. Overall, since 1982, Earth’s tree cover increased by 2.24 million square kilometres, an addition to nature’s bounty of 7.1 per cent.

CO2 fertilisation is only one, albeit a predominant, reason why the Earth is greening. The study also identified climate change, nitrogen fertilisation and land management as other important reasons...<<<Read More>>>...

Rising CO2 Levels Greening Earth

From a quarter to half of Earth’s vegetated lands has shown significant greening over the last 35 years largely due to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change on April 25. The greening represents an increase in leaves on plants and trees equivalent in area to two times the continental United States.

New NASA satellite data prove carbon dioxide is GREENING the Earth and restoring forests

[Natural News]: The latest Vegetation Index data from NASA shows that the Earth is getting progressively “greener” and lusher over time.

The planet is 10 percent greener today than it was in 2000, NASA says, which means better conditions for growing crops. Forests are also expanding while deserts are becoming more fertile and usable for agriculture.

All in all, the global Vegetation Index rose from 0.0936 to 0.1029 between 2000 and 2021, a 9.94 percent increase.

“10 percent greening in 20 years! We are incredibly fortunate!” announced Zoe Phin, a researcher who compiled the data into a chart for her blog.

“I just wish everyone felt that way. But you know not everyone does. To the extent that humans enhance global greening is precisely what social parasites want to tax and regulate. No good deed goes unpunished.”

A separate German study found that the globe has been greening for at least the past three decades. Satellite imagery suggests that vegetation has been expanding at a growing rate, contracting the gloom-and-doom narrative being spread by the climate alarmists.

Back in 2018, research found that the Sahara Desert, the largest in the world, had shrunk by more than 8 percent over the past three decades. This is truly profound as the Sahara covers an expansive 9.2 million square kilometers of territory.

“Eight percent means more than 700,000 square kilometers more area that’s become green – an area almost as big as Germany and France combined,” reports P. Gosselin.

“So in terms of vegetation, the planet probably hasn’t had it this nice in about 1,000 years.”...<<<Read The Full Article Here>>>...

 

CO2 SAVES THE PLANET: Research confirms that high levels of carbon dioxide result in “global greening” as forests and food crops flourish

[Natural News]: Plants were efficient absorbers of carbon dioxide during the early Miocene – a period with high levels of carbon dioxide, found a study published in the journal Climate of the Past.

Researchers from New Zealand analyzed plant fossils from a former lake and discovered that the levels of carbon dioxide at the time exceeded those recorded today. They added that Miocene plants had features that equipped them to grow in drier and hotter climate. With such enhanced plants, the high carbon levels provided a “forest fertilization effect.”

These findings are useful in the context of today’s rising levels of carbon dioxide. With the study’s reconstruction of early Miocene as an analog, they provide a picture of the world several years from now.

The Miocene epoch was a time marked by global warming. It occurred from about 23 to 5.3 million years ago and is credited for the appearance of grasslands and kelp forests, underwater ecosystems that are dense with the plant kelp.

During Miocene, global temperatures rose after a period of global cooling in the preceding epoch. Ice largely disappeared at the poles and land became more arid. It is estimated that Earth was 37-44 F hotter than today.

While experts agree that temperatures rose at the time, the levels of carbon dioxide were hotly debated. Some experts contended that carbon levels were around 300 parts per million (ppm) – near the same amount before the Industrial Revolution started. Others estimated that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached 400 ppm, which is around today’s global average.

“Evidence has been building that carbon dioxide was high then, but there have been paradoxes,” said lead author Tammo Reichgelt, a scientist at Columbia University....<<<Read The Full Article Here>>>...

Inspired by photosynthesis in plants, researchers create liquid fuel with just water and carbon dioxide

[Natural News]: Over millions of years, plants have developed the most efficient method of producing energy: photosynthesis. It is the conversion of sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into usable energy.

Not only does it use sunlight, which is free and readily available, it also produces carbohydrates and oxygen, which other living organisms need to survive.

In recent years, scientists have been trying to mimic photosynthesis to create fuel that can be stored. This is the underlying principle of artificial photosynthesis.

To properly mimic photosynthesis, any method that scientists develop must have two functions: harvest sunlight and split water molecules. Plants use chlorophyll and a variety of proteins and enzymes for these tasks. The former captures sunlight, which gives plants their rich, green color. The latter, on the other hand, uses that sunlight to break down water molecules into its main compounds: hydrogen, oxygen and electrons.

Plants use hydrogen and electrons to turn carbon dioxide into carbohydrates. Meanwhile, it releases oxygen into the environment....<<<Read The Full Article Here>>>...