Why Carbon Emissions are Not a Big Deal Part I<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Carbon is a Necessary Component of Life
Caroline Lewis

W
hile much has been made of the ¡°evils of carbon¡± in the recent months due to the so-called crisis of Global Warming, biology and scientific fact actually reveal that carbon is a necessary component for life.
The word ¡°organic¡± as opposed to ¡°inorganic¡± is defined as a substance containing carbon.  Plants, animals, and humans are all considered ¡°organic substances¡± while water (H©üO) is inorganic because it does not contain carbon.  All of life contains carbon.  If there is no carbon molecule in it, it¡¯s not organic, it is not alive, and it never was alive.
The reason that fossil fuels emit carbon is because they are made up of previously-living plant and animal particles.  They are organic matter which has been left to decay and due to heat and pressure has formed oil, natural gas, and coal.  Because everything dead or alive contains carbon, our burning of anything dead or alive would yield carbon emissions.  If you burn gasoline, coal, wood, cow dung, or even corn for that matter, it will create some kind of carbon emission.  Even in the prairie days when the pioneers burned ¡°cow patties¡± for fuel, they emitted carbon.  When my cat died two years ago, the vet cremated her---carbon emission.  Flatulence, burning wood, and even breathing emits carbon.  Are we going to have a breathing tax next?   
Carbon is not only a necessary molecule which makes up all living (and hence previously living) substances, but it is a necessary component for the process of photosynthesis.  Plants take in CO©ü, water and light, converting it into oxygen and a simple sugar.  Without CO©ü, plant could not perform photosynthesis and thus they would not be able to create their own food, and plants would die. 
 About a month ago I watched Jerry Seinfeld¡¯s Bee Movie.  It was hilarious and was so filled with Seinfeld¡¯s own unique brand of humor.  It told the story of a bee who went on a crusade to stop the humans from eating their honey.  He won his case in the courtroom aided by his human friend Veronica.  The loss of the human consumers meant an immense supply of honey for the bees, so they all just stopped working.  When the bees stopped working, the flowers started dying.  Uh-Oh: Problem!  Ultimately, the bees went back to work, the humans were allowed to eat the honey, and the flowers started blooming again.  This little story illustrated the necessity of natural processes. 
Similarly, if it were possible to stop the emissions of carbon dioxide altogether, it would actually adversely affect the plant population.  The effects on the plants would affect the entire food chain because plants are the foundation of the food chain!
Land animals and plant are not the only living creatures to benefit from CO©ü.  The ocean dwelling mollusks utilize the carbon derivative, calcium carbonate, for their shells.  After they die, their shells create limestone. Limestone dissolves in the water and is released through evaporation by the ocean.  The journey of carbon begins with the plants which take it in and by the process of photosynthesis create oxygen.  Animals eat the carbon-containing plants and excrete or breathe it out.  Carbon is then dissolved into the ground and ultimately makes its way to the ocean where it forms calcium carbonate by combining with calcium. Mollusks use calcium carbonate to form their shells, their shells creating limestone when they die.  Finally, CO©ü evaporates from the ocean into the air, making it available for the plants to absorb it again.  This is called the carbon cycle.
Carbon emissions are not a big deal because 1. Carbon is the defining molecule that makes up life.  2.  CO©ü is necessary for photosynthesis 3.Burning anything living or that used to be alive creates emissions 4.  Breathing produces emissions 5.  Life produces emissions.
Therefore, carbon is part of life and is nothing to be afraid of.  In fact, if you have anything to fear, fear the imbalance of equilibrium within our ecosystems if CO©ü suddenly disappeared.