FACT CHECK: Is the quantity of CO2 in atmosphere substantial to cause global warming?

A circulating video shared on social media has claimed that the volume of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is too small to cause substantial global warming.

The old video shows an Australian broadcaster, Alan Jones, asking a fellow panellist, “what percentage of the atmosphere consists of CO2?”.

“It’s 0.04 percent, and of that 0.04 percent, human beings around the world create 3 percent, and of that 3 percent, Australia creates 1.3 percent.

“So for the 1.3 percent of the 3 percent of the 0.04 percent, we then decide to have a national economic suicide.”

The broadcaster’s remark downplays the global advocacy for climate mitigation and green energy. 

The video can be found on Instagram where it gathered over 7,400 likes. It was also shared on TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook.

EFFECT OF CO2 ON GLOBAL WARMING

Scientific data shows that the percentage of CO2 in the atmosphere is 0.04, just like Jones cited. However, the fact remains that CO2 emissions have a huge effect on climate change.

The burning of fossil fuels affects the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. Also, human-generated emissions are not absorbed as part of the natural CO2 cycle, rather they add more to the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, further warming the planet in the process.

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a US agency responsible for aeronautics and space research, “greenhouse gases make up just a tiny percentage of our atmosphere”. However, they “play major roles in trapping Earth’s radiant heat and keeping it from escaping into space, thereby warming our planet and contributing to Earth’s greenhouse effect”. 

ALARMING INCREASE IN CO2 CONCENTRATION 

Going by recent data released by Climate.gov, human activities have led to more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than natural processes can remove.  This has substantially led to an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere 

The concentration of greenhouse gas in the 1850s – pre-industrial revolution was about 280 parts per million (ppm). 

In 2022, the global average of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere set a new high when 417.06 parts per million was recorded.  This new high represents about 50 percent increase in atmospheric CO2 – compared to the pre-industrial revolution.

Scientists are worried that the world is on the verge of doubling the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere by the end of this century.

Also, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a UN body established to assess the science related to climate change, revealed that in recent times, the degree of changes in global climate has never been observed by humans, adding that some of these changes are irreversible over the next hundreds to thousands of years.

VERDICT

The claim is misleading. 

The fact that the quantity of CO2 in the atmosphere is 0.04 percent,  does not in any way suggest that the effect of CO2 on climate change is irrelevant. Studies have shown that emissions are heating the planet and driving irreversible changes to the climate.

This fact check was produced by TheCable with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck, International Fact-Checking Network, and African Fact Checking Alliance network.