EPA MEDDLING WILL DESTROY AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION, AFFECT EVERY PART OF YOUR LIFE



As Americans voted for a "change" they are about to get more of it from the recent ruling by the EPA, which declared CARBON DIOXIDE a threat to public health, and that it would have the right to regulate it. This action was celebrated by environmental groups as "a landmark moment in environmental history."

They seem to forget, that negatively impacting the economy, especially in its current recession will work to undermine the recovery process. How will there be a recovery, if the very generators of new jobs are penalized for generating the jobs, since they can be generators of CO2? Do you see this EPA action as being positive for growing industrial output, or making life easier for people?

The EPA hierarchy may have missed the worldwide facts that they may see a reduction of CO2 levels due to the declining industrial production in almost every country. It would appear that the bottom line here will be the creation of CLIMATE PORK for those involved in the green industry.

Will it really help our economy to block production of fossil fuels of which there are plenty and shift to processes which are not only costly, but they do not even exist? How do we expect to plug in our yet unbuilt electric cars, which can travel 40 miles before they stall on the roads, into electric outlets in our garages, when the power plants can not produce the electricity?

Who can afford to buy $40,000-$50,000 electric cars when their credit is non-existent?

Is GLOBAL warming or the CO2 output really the urgent agenda item right now for the USA, as unemployment will surpass 10% shortly, and keep going from there?

We all agree that any "gasses" that are dangerous to the public health need to be regulated and controlled, nobody would argue with that. I myself saw the positive aspects of EPA regulations come to fruition over the years. I remember that while driving on the Indiana toll road through Gary, Indiana in the 70's, the surrounding air would turn totally black and I could only drive at about 10 MPH with the lights on while the steel mills there were belching out black smoke.

People actually lived in this polluted air, and there were a lot of breathing problems. The air quality has changed drastically since then, with the remaining steel plant still operating actually emitting pure white puffy clouds of smoke now. THE EPA DID ITS JOB.

Now, it is different. The EPA is an agency controlled by folks who either do not understand what CO2 is, or they must be "plants" from hostile dictatorships from other countries, hellbent on the destruction of our businesses, our way of life and even maybe how we and animals breathe out on the planet!

I saw a survey taken last year where adults were surveyed and asked what CO2 was..."what is CO2?", they were asked. Not surprisingly, 82% could not describe it, and fully 67% described it as being CARBON MONOXIDE (CO) , the deadly exhaust fume gas, obviously then being a dangerous gas which we would all be in favor of controlling.

Most of those surveyed then concluded that such a deadly gas as CARBON DIOXIDE (CO), NEEDED TO BE CONTROLLED BY THE EPA. They had no idea of the distinction between CO and CO2. For that matter does anyone who did not take Chemistry know the difference anyway?

We need to consider some gasses as being good, some as bad, some as necessary some as needing to be monitored or controlled and the necessary ones to be understood.

Industrial output of fossil fuel use and industrial production in the key industrial countries of the world adds to CO2 emissions. The USA produces 20.2% of CO2 worldwide and China now produces even more at 20.6% of world output, because these two nations are the biggest economies now on the planet. There is a big difference between the US and China however, as most of China's output is not "filtered" controlled and regulated. Its factories belch out CO2 unabated, and pollute more than their output would otherwise allow.

Now power plants which use coal and other means of fuel to produce power will be fined or "taxed" for their carbon output which is expected to add to the average utility bill an increase of 50%-150% or more. The new president in one of his campaign speeches mentioned baldly, that this increased cost is the necessary result of needing to help the planet..., never mind that it is a new significant "tax" for everyone that will be passed along to everyone who uses power.

Here is the EPA official news release:

EPA: Greenhouse Gases Pose a Threat to Public Health and Welfare

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed finding last week, concluding that greenhouse gases contribute to air pollution that may endanger public health or welfare. The finding opens greenhouse gas emissions to regulation under the Clean Air Act, although the Obama Administration has indicated a preference for comprehensive legislation to address climate change and to create the framework for a clean energy economy. The proposed finding identified six major greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. Carbon dioxide is the dominant greenhouse gas emitted in the United States, and it is primarily emitted through the combustion of fossil fuels. Efforts to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide will largely involve reducing the emissions from fossil fuel use, either by minimizing energy use through energy efficiency; switching to cleaner energy sources, such as renewable energy; or capturing and sequestering the carbon dioxide emissions.

The EPA's "endangerment finding" focuses on the impact of climate change rather than on specific regulatory proposals. It finds that climate change may lead to higher levels of ground-level ozone, which is harmful to human health, and that it could lead to increased drought, heavier downpours and flooding, more intense storms, more frequent and intense heat waves and wildfires, greater sea level rise, and harm to water resources, agriculture, wildlife, and ecosystems. Although the endangerment finding does not include any proposed regulations, it does specifically call out automobiles as a source of greenhouse gases. The proposed endangerment finding is in response to a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. It will be open to public comment for 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register. See the EPA press release and the Web page for the proposed finding.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama was in Mexico and at the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad last week, and he took two major steps to advance the response to climate change among the nations of North and South America. In Mexico City, President Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderón established the U.S.-Mexico Bilateral Framework on Clean Energy and Climate Change, which establishes a mechanism for political and technical cooperation and information exchange related to the development of clean energy economies. The bilateral framework will focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency, green jobs, low-carbon energy technology development and capacity building, forestry and land use, and market mechanisms, as well as means of adapting to climate change. The framework will also focus on border issues. At the Summit of the Americas, President Obama invited countries in the Americas to participate in the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas, which is a voluntary and flexible framework for advancing energy security and combating climate change. See the White House press releases on the bilateral framework and the Summit of the Americas.

BLOG CONTINUED.....

Now for the real facts about CARBON DIOXIDE and its uses in everyday life and products that we need to use every day (like breathing), cooling our refrigerator, food processing and transportation, soda, wine making, plastics, agricultural uses, cows belching, all plants, and animals and humans on the planet, pneumatic tools, baking soda, dry cleaning, fire extinguishers, ETC....are you starting to understand now and what it really is from WIKIPEDIA.

Industrial production

Carbon dioxide is manufactured mainly from six processes:[10]

  1. As a by-product hydrogen plants, where methane is converted to CO2;
  2. From combustion of wood and fossil fuels;
  3. As a by-product of fermentation of sugar in the brewing of beer, whisky and other alcoholic beverages;
  4. From thermal decomposition of limestone, CaCO3, in the manufacture of lime, CaO;
  5. As a by-product of sodium phosphate manufacture;
  6. Directly from natural carbon dioxide springs, where it is produced by the action of acidified water on limestone or dolomite.

Human CO2 emissions amount to 2-3% of the natural emissions

Uses

Carbon dioxide bubbles in a soft drink.

Carbon dioxide is used by the food industry, the oil industry, and the chemical industry.[10] It is used in many consumer products that require pressurized gas because it is inexpensive and nonflammable, and because it undergoes a phase transition from gas to liquid at room temperature at an attainable pressure of approximately 60 bar (870 psi, 59 atm), allowing far more carbon dioxide to fit in a given container than otherwise would. Life jackets often contain canisters of pressured carbon dioxide for quick inflation. Aluminum capsules are also sold as supplies of compressed gas for airguns, paintball markers, for inflating bicycle tires, and for making seltzer. Rapid vaporization of liquid carbon dioxide is used for blasting in coal mines. High concentrations of carbon dioxide can also be used to kill pests, such as the Common Clothes Moth.

Drinks

Carbon dioxide is used to produce carbonated soft drinks and soda water. Traditionally, the carbonation in beer and sparkling wine comes about through natural fermentation, but some manufacturers carbonate these drinks artificially.

Foods

A candy called Pop Rocks is pressurized with carbon dioxide gas at about 40 bar (600 psi). When placed in the mouth, it dissolves (just like other hard candy) and releases the gas bubbles with an audible pop.

Leavening agents produce carbon dioxide to cause dough to rise. Baker's yeast produces carbon dioxide by fermentation of sugars within the dough, while chemical leaveners such as baking powder and baking soda release carbon dioxide when heated or if exposed to acids.

Pneumatic systems

Carbon dioxide is one of the most commonly used compressed gases for pneumatic (pressurized gas) systems in portable pressure tools and combat robots.

Fire extinguisher

Carbon dioxide extinguishes flames, and some fire extinguishers, especially those designed for electrical fires, contain liquid carbon dioxide under pressure. Carbon dioxide has also been widely used as an extinguishing agent in fixed fire protection systems for total flooding of a protected space, (National Fire Protection Association Code 12). International Maritime Organisation standards also recognise carbon dioxide systems for fire protection of ship holds and engine rooms. Carbon dioxide based fire protection systems have been linked to several deaths. A review of CO2 systems (Carbon Dioxide as a Fire Suppressant: Examining the Risks, US EPA) identified 51 incidents between 1975 and the date of the report, causing 72 deaths and 145 injuries.

Welding

Carbon dioxide also finds use as an atmosphere for welding, although in the welding arc, it reacts to oxidize most metals. Use in the automotive industry is common despite significant evidence that welds made in carbon dioxide are more brittle than those made in more inert atmospheres, and that such weld joints deteriorate over time because of the formation of carbonic acid. It is used as a welding gas primarily because it is much less expensive than more inert gases such as argon or helium.

Caffeine removal

Liquid carbon dioxide is a good solvent for many lipophilic organic compounds, and is used to remove caffeine from coffee. First, the green coffee beans are soaked in water. The beans are placed in the top of a column seventy feet (21 m) high. Then supercritical carbon dioxide in fluid form at about 93 degrees Celsius enters at the bottom of the column. The caffeine diffuses out of the beans and into the carbon dioxide

Pharmaceutical and other chemical processing

Carbon dioxide has begun to attract attention in the pharmaceutical and other chemical processing industries as a less toxic alternative to more traditional solvents such as organochlorides. It's used by some dry cleaners for this reason. (See green chemistry.)

In the chemical industry, carbon dioxide is used for the production of urea, carbonates and bicarbonates, and sodium salicylate.

Agriculture / Biological applications

Plants require carbon dioxide to conduct photosynthesis. Because of low current atmospheric concentration, carbon dioxide is practically the limiting factor of the Earth life, as compare to two other similarly important components - water and sun light. While plants "in wild" are optimized for this, plant-intense greenhouses may (and of large size - must) enrich their atmospheres with additional CO2 to sustain plant life and growth, because the low present-day atmosphere concentration of CO2 is just above the "suffocation" level for green plants. A photosynthesis-related drop (by a factor less than two) in carbon dioxide concentration in a greenhouse compartment would kill green plants, or, at least, completely stop their growth. At very high concentrations (a factor of 100 or more higher than its atmospheric concentration), carbon dioxide can be toxic to animal life, so raising the concentration to 10,000 ppm (1%) or higher for several hours will eliminate pests such as whiteflies and spider mites in a greenhouse.

It has been proposed that carbon dioxide from power generation be bubbled into ponds to grow algae that could then be converted into biodiesel fuel.[11] Carbon dioxide is already increasingly used in greenhouses as the main carbon source for Spirulina algae. In medicine, up to 5% carbon dioxide (factor 150 as compare to atmospheric concentration) is added to pure oxygen for stimulation of breathing after apnea and to stabilize the O2/CO2 balance in blood.

Lasers

A common type of industrial gas laser is the carbon dioxide laser.

Polymers and plastics

Carbon dioxide can also be combined with limonene oxide from orange peels or other epoxides to create polymers and plastics.[12]

Oil recovery

Carbon dioxide is used in enhanced oil recovery where it is injected into or adjacent to producing oil wells, usually under supercritical conditions. It acts as both a pressurizing agent and, when dissolved into the underground crude oil, significantly reduces its viscosity, enabling the oil to flow more rapidly through the earth to the removal well.[13] In mature oil fields, extensive pipe networks are used to carry the carbon dioxide to the injection points.

As refrigerants

Liquid and solid carbon dioxide are important refrigerants, especially in the food industry, where they are employed during the transportation and storage of ice cream and other frozen foods. Solid carbon dioxide is called "dry ice" and is used for small shipments where refrigeration equipment is not practical.

Liquid carbon dioxide (industry nomenclature R744 / R-744) was used as a refrigerant prior to the discovery of R-12 and is likely to enjoy a renaissance due to environmental concerns. Its physical properties are highly favorable for cooling, refrigeration, and heating purposes, having a high volumetric cooling capacity. Due to its operation at pressures of up to 130 bars, CO2 systems require highly resistant components that have been already developed to serial production in many sectors. In car air conditioning, in more than 90% of all driving conditions, R744 operates more efficiently than systems using R-134a. Its environmental advantages (GWP of 1, non-ozone depleting, non-toxic, non-flammable) could make it the future working fluid to replace current HFCs in cars, supermarkets, hot water heat pumps, among others. Some applications: Coca-Cola has fielded CO2-based beverage coolers and the US Army is interested in CO2 refrigeration and heating technology.[14][15]

By the end of 2007, the global car industry is expected to decide on the next-generation refrigerant in car air conditioning. CO2 is one discussed option.(see The Cool War)

Coal bed methane recovery

In enhanced coal bed methane recovery, carbon dioxide is pumped into the coal seam to displace methane.[16]

Wine making

Carbon dioxide in the form of dry ice is often used in the wine making process to cool down bunches of grapes quickly after picking to help prevent spontaneous fermentation by wild yeasts. The main advantage of using dry ice over regular water ice is that it cools the grapes without adding any additional water that may decrease the sugar concentration in the grape must, and therefore also decrease the alcohol concentration in the finished wine.

Dry ice is also used during the cold soak phase of the wine making process to keep grapes cool. The carbon dioxide gas that results from the sublimation of the dry ice tends to settle to the bottom of tanks because it is heavier than regular air. The settled carbon dioxide gas creates an hyoxic environment which helps to prevent bacteria from growing on the grapes until it is time to start the fermentation with the desired strain of yeast.

Carbon dioxide is also used to create a hypoxic environment for carbonic maceration, the process used to produce Beaujolais wine.

Carbon dioxide is sometimes used to top up wine bottles or other storage vessels such as barrels to prevent oxidation, though it has the problem that it can dissolve into the wine, making a previously still wine slightly fizzy. For this reason, other gasses such as nitrogen or argon are preferred for this process by professional wine makers.

pH control

Carbon dioxide can be used as a mean of controlling the pH of swimming pools, by continuously adding gas to the water, thus keeping the pH level from rising. Among the advantages of this is the avoidance of handling (more hazardous) acids.

In the Earth's atmosphere

The Keeling Curve of atmospheric CO2 concentrations measured at Mauna Loa Observatory.

Carbon dioxide in earth's atmosphere is considered a trace gas currently occurring at an average concentration of about 385 parts per million by volume or 582 parts per million by mass. The mass of the Earth atmosphere is 5.14×1018 kg,[17] so the total mass of atmospheric carbon dioxide is 3.0×1015 kg (3,000 gigatonnes). Its concentration varies seasonally (see graph at right) and also considerably on a regional basis: in urban areas it is generally higher and indoors it can reach 10 times the background atmospheric concentration. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas.

Yearly increase of atmospheric CO2: In the 1960s, the average annual increase was 37% of the 2000-2007 average.[18]

Due to human activities such as the combustion of fossil fuels and deforestation, the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased by about 35% since the beginning of the age of industrialization.[2] Five hundred million years ago carbon dioxide was 20 times more prevalent than today, decreasing to 4-5 times during the Jurassic period and then maintained a slow decline with a particularly swift reduction occurring 49 million years ago.[19][20]

Up to 40% of the gas emitted by some volcanoes during subaerial volcanic eruptions is carbon dioxide.[21] It is estimated that volcanoes release about 130-230 million tonnes (145-255 million tons) of CO2 into the atmosphere each year. Carbon dioxide is also produced by hot springs such as those at the Bossoleto site near Rapolano Terme in Tuscany, Italy. Here, in a bowl-shaped depression of about 100 m diameter, local concentrations of CO2 rise to above 75% overnight, sufficient to kill insects and small animals, but warm rapidly when sunlit and disperse by convection during the day.[22] Locally high concentrations of CO2, produced by disturbance of deep lake water saturated with CO2 are thought to have caused 37 fatalities at Lake Monoun, Cameroon in 1984 and 1700 casualties at Lake Nyos, Cameroon in 1986.[23] However, emissions of CO2 by human activities are currently more than 130 times greater than the quantity emitted by volcanoes, amounting to about 27 billion tonnes per year.[24]

In the oceans

There is about 50 times as much carbon dissolved in the oceans in the form of CO2 and carbonic acid, bicarbonate and carbonate ions as exists in the atmosphere. The oceans act as an enormous carbon sink, having "absorbed about one-third of all human-generated CO2 emissions to date."[25] Generally, gas solubility decreases as water temperature increases. Accordingly the rate of uptake from the atmosphere decreases as ocean temperatures rise.

Most of the CO2 taken up by the ocean forms carbonic acid in equilibrium with bicarbonate and carbonate ions. Some is consumed in photosynthesis by organisms in the water, and a small proportion of that sinks and leaves the carbon cycle. Increased CO2 in the atmosphere has led to increasing acidity (strictly, decreasing alkalinity) of seawater and there is some concern that this may adversely affect organisms living in the water. In particular, with decreasing alkalinity, the availability of carbonates for forming shells decreases.[26]

Biological role

Carbon dioxide is an end product in organisms that obtain energy from breaking down sugars, fats and amino acids with oxygen as part of their metabolism, in a process known as cellular respiration. This includes all plants, animals, many fungi and some bacteria. In higher animals, the carbon dioxide travels in the blood from the body's tissues to the lungs where it is exhaled. In plants using photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere.

Role in photosynthesis

Plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by photosynthesis, also called carbon assimilation, which uses light energy to produce organic compounds (cellulose, lipids, and various proteins) by combining carbon dioxide and water. Free oxygen is released as gas from the decomposition of water molecules, while the hydrogen is split into its protons and electrons and used to generate chemical energy via photophosphorylation. This energy is required for the fixation of carbon dioxide in the Calvin cycle to make 3-phosphoglycerate that is used in metabolism, to construct sugars that can be used as an energy source within the plant through respiration and as the raw material for the construction of more complex organic molecules, such as polysaccharides, nucleic acids and proteins during growth.

Even when greenhouses are vented, carbon dioxide must be introduced into them to maintain plant growth, as the concentration of carbon dioxide can fall during daylight hours to as low as 200 ppm (a limit of C3 carbon fixation photosynthesis[citation needed]). Plants can grow up to 50 percent faster in concentrations of 1,000 ppm CO2 when compared with ambient conditions.[27]

Plants also emit CO2 during respiration, and so the majority of plants and algae, which use C3 photosynthesis, are only net absorbers during the day. A growing forest will absorb many tons of CO2 each year, but a mature forest will produce as much CO2 from respiration and decomposition of dead specimens (e.g. fallen branches) as is used in biosynthesis in growing plants.[28] Nevertheless, mature forests are valuable carbon sinks, helping maintain balance in the Earth's atmosphere. Additionally, and crucially to life on earth, photosynthesis by phytoplankton consumes dissolved CO2 in the upper ocean and thereby promotes the absorption of CO2 from the atmosphere.[29]

Toxicity

Main symptoms of Carbon dioxide toxicity, by increasing volume percent in air.[30][31].

Carbon dioxide content in fresh air (averaged between sea-level and 10 hPa level, i.e. about 30 km altitude) varies between 0.036% (360 ppm) and 0.039% (390 ppm), depending on the location (see graphical map of CO2).

Prolonged exposure to moderate concentrations can cause acidosis and adverse effects on calcium phosphorus metabolism resulting in increased calcium deposits in soft tissue. Carbon dioxide is toxic to the heart and causes diminished contractile force.[31]

Toxicity and its effects increase with the concentration of CO2, here given in volume percent of CO2 in the air:

  • 1%, as can occur in a crowded auditorium with poor ventilation, can cause drowsiness with prolonged exposure. [30]
  • At 2% it is mildly narcotic and causes increased blood pressure and pulse rate, and causes reduced hearing. [31]
  • At about 5% it causes stimulation of the respiratory centre, dizziness, confusion and difficulty in breathing accompanied by headache and shortness of breath. [31]
  • At about 8% it causes headache, sweating, dim vision, tremor and loss of consciousness after exposure for between five and ten minutes.[31]

A natural disaster linked to CO2 intoxication occurred during the limnic eruptions in the CO2-rich lakes of Monoun and Nyos in the Okun range of North-West Cameroon: the gas was brutally expelled from the mountain lakes and leaked into the surrounding valleys, killing most animal forms. During the Lake Nyos tragedy of 1988, 1700 villagers and 3500 livestock died.

Due to the health risks associated with carbon dioxide exposure, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration says that average exposure for healthy adults during an eight-hour work day should not exceed 5,000 ppm (0.5%). The maximum safe level for infants, children, the elderly and individuals with cardio-pulmonary health issues is significantly less. For short-term (under ten minutes) exposure, the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and American Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) limit is 30,000 ppm (3%). NIOSH also states that carbon dioxide concentrations exceeding 4% are immediately dangerous to life and health. [32]

Adaptation to increased levels of CO2 occurs in humans. Continuous inhalation of CO2 can be tolerated at three percent inspired concentrations for at least one month and four percent inspired concentrations for over a week. It was suggested that 2.0 percent inspired concentrations could be used for closed air spaces (e.g. a submarine) since the adaptation is physiological and reversible. Decrement in performance or in normal physical activity does not happen at this level.[33][34]

These figures are valid for pure carbon dioxide. In indoor spaces occupied by people the carbon dioxide concentration will reach higher levels than in pure outdoor air. Concentrations higher than 1,000 ppm will cause discomfort in more than 20% of occupants, and the discomfort will increase with increasing CO2 concentration. The discomfort will be caused by various gases coming from human respiration and perspiration, and not by CO2 itself. At 2,000 ppm the majority of occupants will feel a significant degree of discomfort, and many will develop nausea and headaches. The CO2 concentration between 300 and 2,500 ppm is used as an indicator of indoor air quality.

Acute carbon dioxide toxicity is sometimes known by the names given to it by miners: blackdamp (also called choke damp or stythe). Miners would try to alert themselves to dangerous levels of carbon dioxide in a mine shaft by bringing a caged canary with them as they worked. The canary would inevitably die before CO2 reached levels toxic to people.

Carbon dioxide ppm levels (CDPL) are a surrogate for measuring indoor pollutants that may cause occupants to grow drowsy, get headaches, or function at lower activity levels. To eliminate most indoor air quality complaints, total indoor CDPL must be reduced to below 600. NIOSH considers that indoor air concentrations that exceed 1,000 are a marker suggesting inadequate ventilation. ASHRAE recommends they not exceed 1,000 inside a space.

Human physiology

CO2 is carried in blood in three different ways. (The exact percentages vary depending whether it is arterial or venous blood).

  • Most of it (about 70% – 80%) is converted to bicarbonate ions HCO3 by the enzyme carbonic anhydrase in the red blood cells,[35] by the reaction CO2 + H2O → H2CO3 → H+ + HCO3.

Hemoglobin, the main oxygen-carrying molecule in red blood cells, carries both oxygen and carbon dioxide. However, the CO2 bound to hemoglobin does not bind to the same site as oxygen. Instead, it combines with the N-terminal groups on the four globin chains. However, because of allosteric effects on the hemoglobin molecule, the binding of CO2 decreases the amount of oxygen that is bound for a given partial pressure of oxygen. The decreased binding to carbon dioxide in the blood due to increased oxygen levels is known as the Haldane Effect, and is important in the transport of carbon dioxide from the tissues to the lungs. Conversely, a rise in the partial pressure of CO2 or a lower pH will cause offloading of oxygen from hemoglobin, which is known as the Bohr Effect.

Carbon dioxide is one of the mediators of local autoregulation of blood supply. If its levels are high, the capillaries expand to allow a greater blood flow to that tissue.

Bicarbonate ions are crucial for regulating blood pH. A person's breathing rate influences the level of CO2 in their blood. Breathing that is too slow or shallow causes respiratory acidosis, while breathing that is too rapid leads to hyperventilation, which may cause respiratory alkalosis.

Although the body requires oxygen for metabolism, low oxygen levels do not stimulate breathing. Rather, breathing is stimulated by higher carbon dioxide levels. As a result, breathing low-pressure air or a gas mixture with no oxygen at all (such as pure nitrogen) can lead to loss of consciousness without ever experiencing air hunger. This is especially perilous for high-altitude fighter pilots. It is also why flight attendants instruct passengers, in case of loss of cabin pressure, to apply the oxygen mask to themselves first before helping others — otherwise one risks going unconscious.[35]

Typically the gas we exhale is about 4% to 5% carbon dioxide and 4% to 5% less oxygen than was inhaled.

According to a study by the United States Department of Agriculture, an average person's respiration generates approximately 450 liters (roughly 900 grams) of carbon dioxide per day.[36]

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