Here’s my fifth Cranky Uncle video, debunking the myth that human CO2 emissions are tiny compared to natural CO2 emissions so we don’t matter. This animated video is adapted from cartoons in the Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change book.

This video looks at how Charles Keeling began measuring atmospheric CO2 levels in 1958, finding that CO2 levels rose and fell in a steady yearly pattern.

The seasons contribute to this annual cycle. In spring, vegetation suck up CO2 from the atmosphere to grow foliage. In autumn, the leaves fall and rot, emitting CO2 back into the atmosphere.

However, the most dramatic result in Keeling’s data (now known as the Keeling Curve) was the steady increase of atmospheric CO2 over time. Ice core data shows that prior to the industrial revolution, nature was in balance with natural CO2 emissions (in autumn) matched by natural CO2 absorptions (in spring). But when we started burning fossil fuels and emitting CO2 into the atmosphere, CO2 levels spiked dramatically.

Deniers try to cherry pick from the carbon cycle, only comparing human CO2 emissions to natural CO2 emissions. This ignores CO2 absorptions and the fact that nature is in balance. We upset that balance.

If you want to delve into this myth in greater detail, we debunk the myth “Human CO2 emissions are tiny compared to natural CO2 emissions so our influence is negligible” at Skeptical Science. We also debunk the myth in our MOOC Denial101x: Making Sense of Climate Science Denial: