Exclusive: Elevated CO2 Levels Directly Affect Human Cognition, New Harvard Study Shows

[applegrove]

Exclusive: Elevated CO2 Levels Directly Affect Human Cognition, New Harvard Study Shows

by Joe Romm at Think Progress

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/10/26/3714853/carbon-dioxide-impair-brain/

"SNIP..............


In a landmark public health finding, a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health finds that carbon dioxide (CO2) has a direct and negative impact on human cognition and decision-making. These impacts have been observed at CO2 levels that most Americans — and their children — are routinely exposed to today inside classrooms, offices, homes, planes, and cars.

Carbon dioxide levels are inevitably higher indoors than the baseline set by the outdoor air used for ventilation, a baseline that is rising at an accelerating rate thanks to human activity, especially the burning of fossil fuels. So this seminal research has equally great importance for climate policy, providing an entirely new public health impetus for keeping global CO2 levels as low as possible.

In a series of articles, I will examine the implications for public health both today (indoors) as well as in the future (indoors and out) due to rising CO2 levels. This series is the result of a year-long investigation for Climate Progress and my new Oxford University Press book coming out next week, “Climate Change: What Everyone Needs to Know.” This investigative report is
built on dozens of studies and literature reviews as well as exclusive interviews with many of the world’s leading experts in public health and indoor air quality, including authors of both studies.

What scientists have discovered about the impact of elevated carbon dioxide levels on the brain

Significantly, the Harvard study confirms the findings of a little-publicized 2012 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) study, “Is CO2 an Indoor Pollutant? Direct Effects of Low-to-Moderate CO2 Concentrations on Human Decision-Making Performance.” That study found “statistically significant and meaningful reductions in decision-making performance” in test subjects as CO2 levels rose from a baseline of 600 parts per million (ppm) to 1000 ppm and 2500 ppm.



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[villager]

1. Thus explaining why we've collectively become too stupid to do anything meaningful...

...about climate change.

It all makes sense. In an awful kind of way.

[applegrove]

2. I'd love to see the GOP spin this.

[villager]

3. CO2 on their brains will probably make them try...

...and they'll believe they're doing a good job of it!

[bananas]

6. Time of Useful Consciousness

http://www.tucradio.org/

http://www.tucradio.org/about.html

Maria Gilardin learned radio in the KPFA news department in 1980 and was one of the founders of the women's department. She co-wrote the GATT Guide for the Earth Summit in Rio, was founding producer of the national weekly public-affairs show Making Contact, and is a member of the International Forum on Globalization.

Since 1993, Maria has written and produced radio on global trade and great ideas of local resistance to globalization.

[LiberalArkie]

4. That explains why the frat boys and red neck guys that use the CO2 fire extinguishers

to cool the beer are all dumb as a brick. Don't mean to put down the bricks.

[enough]

5. Now we know why it's always a good idea to go outside and get some air. (nt)

[Demeter]

7. They will NOT take my Champagne bubbles!

It's non-negotiable.

[cprise]

8. Another human adaptation problem caused by AGW

We have not evolved to thrive in the conditions we are creating in our environment.

There is also the problem of heat's effects on the human brain (arguably, the brain prefers a cooler environment than the rest of the body). Too much heat curtails our ability to think clearly.