1/15≫ Dr. Belch (why oh why isn't she a gastroenterologist?) seems not to recognize the significance of the story. Climate activists predicted that if Earth's average temperature got to 1.5°C above the pre-industrial (late Little Ice Age) baseline it would be a disaster. But they did, and nothing bad happened. The significance of that is that it means the climate activists were completely wrong.

So climate deniers who say ‘it’s a scam’, where are you now? #NotAClimateScam Temperatures 1.5C above pre-industrial era average for 12 months, data shows. Copernicus #ClimateChange Service says results show a ‘large & continuing shift’ in the climate. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/08/temperatures-1-point-5c-above-pre-industrial-era-average-for-12-months-data-shows?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other…

1/7. This PBS piece is extremely misleading. Elevated CO2 greatly improves crop yields, and it mitigates drought impacts, by improving plants' water use efficiency (WUE) and drought resilience. See: https://www.masterresource.org/carbon-dioxide/co2-increased-water-use-efficiency/… I asked ChatGPT to explain the mechanism by which agronomists have found that elevated CO2 improves crops' WUE and drought resilience. It did a good job: ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍꧁꧂ In agronomy, the effects of elevated CO2 on plant water use efficiency and drought resilience are extensively studied. One of the key mechanisms through which elevated CO2 levels improve water use efficiency is by reducing stomatal conductance and, consequently, water loss through transpiration. Stomata are small pores on the surface of plant leaves that regulate gas exchange, including the uptake of CO2 for photosynthesis and the release of water vapor through transpiration. When CO2 levels are elevated, plants can maintain the same or higher rate of photosynthesis while reducing stomatal conductance. This reduction in stomatal conductance leads to a decrease in water loss through transpiration without significantly affecting CO2 uptake, resulting in improved water use efficiency. Several studies have quantified the effect of elevated CO2 on stomatal conductance and transpiration. For example, a meta-analysis published in 2013 (Kimball et al., 2013) found that under elevated CO2 levels, stomatal conductance decreased by an average of 22%, while transpiration decreased by only 17%. This indicates that plants under elevated CO2 levels were able to reduce water loss more efficiently than they reduced CO2 uptake, leading to an overall improvement in water use efficiency. Improvements in water use efficiency due to elevated CO2 levels can increase plants' drought resilience by allowing them to maintain adequate hydration during periods of water scarcity. This can be particularly beneficial in arid and semi-arid regions where water availability is limited. Overall, the literature suggests that elevated CO2 levels can improve water use efficiency in plants by reducing stomatal conductance and water loss through transpiration, which can enhance their resilience to drought conditions.

3/7. The beneficial effects of elevated CO2 are helping make famines rare for first time in human history. If you're too young to understand how important that is, count yourself blessed! Famine used to be a scourge comparable to war & disease. https://sealevel.info/learnmore.html?0=famine… https://ourworldindata.org/famines

12/19 That is BY FAR the MOST important thing: eCO2 is a major factor helping make food plentiful & famine rare. https://ourworldindata.org/famines Bye bye, Third Horseman of the Apocalypse! One down, War & Pestilence to go! https://sealevel.info/Famine-death-rate-since-1860s-revised-annot1.png…

17/18》 Ending famine is a VERY Big Deal, comparable to ending war and disease. Compare: ● Covid-19 killed 0.1% of world population. ● 1918 flu pandemic killed about 2%. ● WWII killed 2.7%. ● The near-global drought & famine of 1876-78 killed about 3.7% of the world's population.