Australian Study Claims Rising CO2 Detected In Human Blood
A study published in the Australian publication Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health claims to have detected the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide in human blood. Yes, you read that right
The magazine Phys.org published an article dated February 27th, which reads:
Rising carbon dioxide levels are being detected within the human body, with new research warning a key blood marker for the gas could near its healthy limit within decades if current trends continue.
What key blood marker? We are not told.
The findings are especially relevant for children and adolescents, whose developing bodies will experience the longest cumulative exposure to rising atmospheric CO₂.
In a study published in Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health, researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia, Curtin University and The Australian National University (ANU) analyzed more than two decades of U.S. population data and found steady shifts in blood chemistry that closely track the rise in atmospheric CO₂.
Using data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the team examined blood results from around 7,000 people every two years between 1999 and 2020.
Average levels of serum bicarbonate—a marker closely linked to carbon dioxide in the body—have risen by approximately seven percent since 1999. Over the same period, average calcium and phosphorus levels have declined.
What is this marker, and how is it ‘closely linked to CO2’? We are not told.
These changes mirror the rise in atmospheric CO₂, which has increased from about 369 parts per million (ppm) in 2000 to more than 420 ppm today.
Author Associate Professor Alexander Larcombe said the findings suggest the human body may already be compensating for a changing atmosphere.
The findings suggest? So this is opinion then, not fact. And as for a ‘changing atmosphere’, show us the evidence this is happening.
“What we’re seeing is a gradual shift in blood chemistry that mirrors the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide which is driving climate change,” A/Prof Larcombe said.
Mirrors? As in you have attributed one to the other, without any evidence? Utter rubbish.
What changing blood chemistry could mean
Bicarbonate plays a central role in maintaining the body’s acid–base balance. When CO₂ levels rise, the body retains more bicarbonate to stabilize blood pH. Over time, however, sustained compensation may carry physiological consequences.
May carry? So this is speculation?
“If current trends continue, modeling indicates average bicarbonate levels could approach the upper limit of today’s accepted healthy range within 50 years,” A/Prof Larcombe said.
“Calcium and phosphorus levels could also reach the lower end of their healthy ranges later this century.”
Modeling….could….more speculation.
Humans evolved in an atmosphere containing roughly 280–300 ppm of CO₂. The average annual increase over the past decade has been about 2.6 ppm per year, with 2024 recording a 3.5 ppm rise.
Birds, turtles, tortoises and the tuatara reptile have all survived virtually unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs, when CO2 levels were 600-700 ppm, and over the next ten million years, it rose to around 1600 ppm before beginning its gradual decline to today’s drought level, so they survived major changes in the concentration of CO2 without any problems, or they would not still be here.
Fellow Author Dr. Phil Bierwirth, a retired environmental geoscientist who is affiliated with the ANU Emeritus Faculty, said while the study does not prove direct causation, the consistent, population-wide trends are difficult to ignore.
The study does not prove causation. No sh1t Sherlock, and nonsense like this should be ignored.
“I actually think that what we are seeing is because our bodies are not adapting,” Dr. Bierwirth said.
You think? And we should be concerned about your opinion, and base ‘climate’ policies on it?
“It appears we are adapted to a range of CO2 in the air that may now have been surpassed.
Appears….may….more speculation.
“The normal range maintains a delicate balance between how much CO2 is in the air, our blood pH, our breathing rate and bicarbonate levels in the blood.
“As CO2 in the air is now higher than humans have ever experienced, it appears to be building up in our bodies. Maybe we can never adapt such that it is vitally important to limit atmospheric levels of CO2.”
It appears. Speculation again.
But hang on a sec, a few lines above, Associate Professor Alexander Larcombe said the findings suggest the human body may already be compensating for a changing atmosphere.
So we have a direct contradiction. Two apparently highly-qualififed people, in the same study, say the exact opposite. You can’t have it both ways, its either one or the other.
A new dimension of climate risk
The researchers say the findings point to an emerging dimension of climate risk, one that extends beyond heat waves, extreme weather and sea-level rise.
Heat waves, ‘extreme’ weather and sea-level rise are NOT caused by an increase of a trace gas that constitutes less than a tenth of one percent of the atmosphere.
Rather than viewing rising CO₂ solely as an environmental issue, A/Prof Larcombe says it may also need to be considered a long-term public health variable requiring ongoing monitoring.
“We’re not saying people are suddenly going to become unwell when we cross a certain threshold,” he said.
Oh really? Your ‘research’ and the tone of your words suggests that’s exactly what you want people to believe.
“But this suggests there may be gradual physiological changes occurring at a population level, and that’s something we should be monitoring as part of future climate change policy.”
Suggests again.
The study calls for atmospheric composition and population biomarkers to be tracked alongside traditional climate indicators to better understand how gradual environmental change may influence human biology over decades.
Reducing CO₂ emissions remains critical to limiting global warming. The researchers’ findings suggest emission reduction may also be important for safeguarding long-term human health, and that the potential physiological effects of rising CO₂ should form part of future climate policy discussions.
Suggest….may….potential. More speculation.
Perhaps we should also monitor the psychological effects of rising climate hysteria, which has been added to by this utter garbage.
This is nothing more than desperation by alarmists who are annoyed the Endangerment Finding has been repealed, which of course is the bedrock of the climate scam, and are racking their addled brains to come up with new ways to scare the gullible & the indoctrinated, and keep their lucrative jobs.
Phys.org should be ashamed of themselves for publishing this BS, and you have to question how this ever passed peer-review.
See the article here phys.org
Header image: Shutterstock
About the author: Andy Rowlands is a British university graduate in space science and Principia Scientific International researcher, writer and editor who co-edited the 2019 climate science book ‘The Sky Dragon Slayers: Victory Lap‘