Carbon dioxide, or CO2, is portrayed as the worst villain in climate alarmism's pantheon of satanic gases.

The claim is that increasing levels of greenhouse gases are purportedly driving atmospheric warming to dangerous and unprecedented levels which is said to be leading to ever increasing natural disasters, severe weather events and human health concerns.

But what if these claims are wrong, catastrophically wrong.

What if, rather than being at unprecedented high levels, CO2 is at one of its lowest concentrations in the long history of the Earth and that the modest warming anticipated from increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases will be benign. More carbon dioxide will bring huge benefits to agriculture, forestry and life in general.

Returning guests Dr Will Happer Professor Emeritus of Physics at Princeton University and geologist Greg Wrightstone, both with the CO2 Coalition, make a convincing case in this episode for just that. Atmospheric CO2 is the primary carbon source for life on Earth.

Carbon dioxide concentrations - in part due to human emissions - are slowly growing from near-famine, pre-industrial values toward levels that are optimum for plant growth and which have prevailed over most of the geological history of higher life forms.

Carbon dioxide, at a current concentration of about 420 ppm, represents just 0.04% of the atmosphere, or about 420 molecules out of every million. Current levels are an incredibly small percentage of the atmosphere, albeit a critical one, as advanced plant life could not survive without at least 150 ppm. Recent declines in concentration have pushed the world dangerously close to that 150 ppm "line of death."

Nearly all great leaps in human history occurred during warm periods. Before climate science became politicized, historians called warm periods "climate optima" because Earth's ecosystems and humanity benefited from the blessed warmth.

Contrary to the demonization of the gas, CO2 is essential to life on Earth. CO2 is not a poison. Without CO2, there would be no photosynthesis, no plant food and insufficient oxygen to breathe. Just some of the benefits of CO2:

• Increasing crop growth

• Increasing soil moisture

• Shrinking deserts

• Expanding forests

• Lengthening growing seasons

• Declining cold-related mortality

What we should be worried about is that throughout most of Earth's history, carbon dioxide existed in beneficially high levels that were multiples of our current concentration. Geological sequestration of CO2 into fossil fuels has depleted our atmosphere to levels below the optimum for plant growth.

Episode 267: CO2: The Miracle Molecules with Dr Will Happer and Greg Wrightstone

The Bill Walton Show

Episode 267: CO2: The Miracle Molecules with Dr Will Happer and Greg Wrightstone