• Question: With regards to CO2 why is the world so unbalanced with gases? We produce CO2 and you would say that balances out with plants as they produce O2 but they also respire meaning more CO2...??

    Asked by sparks to Asif, Laura, Lena, Sean, Viv on 16 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Lena Ciric

      Lena Ciric answered on 15 Mar 2012:

      The air on Earth is mostly made up of nitrogen (78 %) and oxygen (20 %). Carbon dioxide makes up less than 1 % of our air. Plant cells respire 24 hours a day and they photosynthesise during daylight hours. The use more CO2 for photosynthesis than they make from respiration. They even use some of the CO2 we produce through burning fossil fuels.

    • Photo: Sean Murphy

      Sean Murphy answered on 15 Mar 2012:

      Even though it appears that way now, the earths atmosphere has never been stable. There was once a period with very little oxygen. This changed when plants started producing it as waste. It may be possible that we are changing the atmosphere with out waste products too.

    • Photo: Laura Waters

      Laura Waters answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      Sean & Lena are right. The levels are always changing.

Comments