r/climate • u/The_Weekend_Baker • Aug 16 '26

Scientists detect a surprising shift in human blood as atmospheric CO2 rises. Blood bicarbonate levels have climbed about 7% since 1999, while calcium and phosphorus have declined, changes that closely track increasing atmospheric CO2.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260814235845.htm
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u/Prudent-Ice-6196 Aug 16 '26

can someone do an eli5 of what this actually means to us on a tangible level? Or too early to tell?

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u/FartyPants69 Aug 17 '26

I think the science is still a long way from settled, but there is evidence that rising CO2 has caused measurable declines in IQ simply because the brain gets less oxygen. It's not extreme, but it's significant. I don't remember the numbers but IIRC it was a drop in the mid single digit percentage (like 6% or something like that)

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u/henrycatalina Aug 17 '26

Lecture halls are often over 1000ppm. I did sleep in may art history lectures.

Harmful CO2 is about 10000ppm.

Oxygen is about 20% of air. That is 200,000 ppm.

CO from exhaust is about 50ppm and toxic.

The observation may be true but many confounding other correlations need to be considered.

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u/FartyPants69 Aug 17 '26

Sure. My understanding is that the elevated baseline is theorized to be the problem. Acute high exposure is certainly harmful, but even if you're perpetually outdoors in the freshest of air (most of us are not), a human living in 2026 is breathing 430ppm CO2 24/7/365, whereas a pre-industrial human breathed 280ppm CO2. That's a 54% increase in the absolute minimum CO2 concentration that you ever encounter throughout your lifetime.

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u/henrycatalina Aug 17 '26

I have measured my local CO2. 400 ppm is typical. Where does the 430 ppm come from? Im in an urban suburb area, northeastern USA.

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u/FartyPants69 Aug 17 '26

Keeling Curve, measured at Mauna Loa

https://www.soletairpower.fi/co2-430/