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How Carbon Dioxide Warms Planet Earth I NOVA I PBS

NOVA PBS Official | December 28, 2025



Carbon dioxide acts like a heat-trapping blanket, warming our planet in a phenomenon known as the greenhouse effect.
Play NOVA’s Polar Lab to find out what too much CO2 in our atmosphere may mean for our planet: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/lab/polar/

Production Credits:
Hosted by: Caitlin Saks
Production by: Ari Daniel & Lorena Lyon
Camera: Emily Zendt
NOVA Labs Editorial Director: David Condon

Additional Visuals: Mitch Butler, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Shutterstock, Videoblocks
Music: APM

© 2020 WGBH Educational Foundation

Written by NOVA PBS Official

Comments

This post currently has 44 comments.

  1. @bobleclair5665

    December 28, 2025 at 7:10 am

    1:17 ,,co2 Is plant food, in greenhouses, they jack it up to 800 and 1200 ppm to get greater yields. Plants and plankton give us o2 which is necessary to make o3, which is necessary to make the ozone, the earth is self regulating, like the oceans, Nuclear power plant cooling stacks produce water vapor which is more conducive to global warming than co2 also their tunnels heats up the surrounding waters

  3. @douglasengle2704

    December 28, 2025 at 7:10 am

    All greenhouse radiant energy is absorbed. This video contains the UN Climate Change disclaimer. Global warming was officially stated at 1.1°C in 1991 and 1.06°C in 2022. There is no mechanism that would allow greenhouse gas behavior to cause global warming. The back of the United Nation's IPCC science report states it took its greenhouse gas samples at 20,000 meters altitude where it is common high school level knowledge there is no greenhouse radiant energy. This is typical practice for deceptive marketing to state legal data transparency protecting the perpetrators from fraud prosecution.

    Earth's greenhouse effect is frequently used as a primary example to high school students of a system always in saturation from the strong greenhouse gas water vapor absorbing all the greenhouse radiant energy from the earth with greenhouse gases within 20 meters of the surface that is all around us everyday and can't have its overall effect changed. There is no further greenhouse radiant energy to interact with greenhouse gases. At 1% average tropospheric water vapor over 99% of earth’s greenhouse effect is from water vapor. Water vapor would hold earth's greenhouse effect in saturation if it were the only greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

    Arctic warming is taking place with the proving mechanism being warm Atlantic Ocean waters migrating deeper and more frequently into the Arctic Ocean warming it and the region. That warmer water is causing a few weeks less of reflective snow and ice coverage resulting in more solar heat gain to the Arctic region surface.

    Atmospheric CO2 levels of 1200 ppm about three times what they are today would greatly invigorate C3 plants the majority of plant life on earth greatly greening the planet.

    0.4% of the atmosphere is CO2 and on average 1% is H20 water vapor. (1% H20)/(0.4% CO2) = 25. Water vapor is 25 times more present in the atmosphere on average than CO2. Water vapor has an CO2e of 18, 18 X 25 = 450 CO2e total for water vapor to 1 CO2e for CO2.

    The Earth’s oceans have 3-1/2 million sea floor volcanic vents warming the water and changing it’s chemistry that have not been systematically accounted for.

  5. @andyjota8906

    December 28, 2025 at 7:10 am

    Climate change science is fraudulent crap what they are calling greenhouse gasses is actually just the atmosphere…. and if the atmosphere wasn't there no life would exist. This is a massive scam being used by a certain type of our elites to do nothing more than raise revenue and remove wealth from the population, basically its fraud and a crime. there is one thing that can raise the temperature in the living room that it the heater when it is turned up on high the room warms up when it is on low the room cools down. the heater in our solar system (big clue there) is the sun when solar activity is high the planet warms when it is low the planet slightly cools, the problem for the scammers is its hard to blame us or cows for the suns activity, but I would guess they are working on that right now lol.

  6. @dwk1us

    December 28, 2025 at 7:10 am

    Call is CO2, a global warming gas and the only one with research was done on it. That is actually a heavy, heavy element gas that lingers close to the ground when y’all can figure out one out and answer it. I like to know the physics does not add up.

  9. @rudigereichler4112

    December 28, 2025 at 7:10 am

    Quite good actually. Why did it get cooler each time CO2 was as its maximum and why did it get hotter right after CO2 had reached its minimum ?
    It is almost like CO2 is not a strong factor over a certain concentration. Also funny its snowing outside while trying to make it a problem that forests are growing back again at northern latitudes.😊 I miss an explanation of the atmospheric window and wich frequencies are absorbed by each molecule and how close to saturation it is today. Also some words about water vapor and overlapping frequencies would be appropriate.

  11. @delta40031

    December 28, 2025 at 7:10 am

    The other day we reached more than 425 ppm, at this rate we are adding around 3 ppm of co2 per year, not to mention the other gases like methane, nitrous oxide, etc, that are also going up fast and by the way there is a major decline in insect populations around the globe, just to point out one of the many ongoing terrible consequences of all this mess.

  14. @johno4521

    December 28, 2025 at 7:10 am

    As a percentage, CO2 concentration is 0.04% up from 0.03% in the last decade. Plant life NEEDS CO2 at least 0.02% to photosynthesise.
    Why does CO2 get such a bad press when there are far more potent greenhouse gases, eg methane, nox

  19. @mattdorsey2244

    December 28, 2025 at 7:10 am

    The earth is in a CO2 drought. I do everything I can to increase CO2 output as everyone should. Do your part to make our planet greener and more comfortable. Consider driving somewhere just for the heck of it. It's really that easy.

  21. @chrisspeakman7215

    December 28, 2025 at 7:10 am

    Sorry but the asumption that c02 traps energy might be a convienient scape goat . but to be convinced I'd need to know how c02 allows heat in but stops it from going going back out . The different wavelength theory is total non sense , radiant heat is radiant heat , If it comes in it must be able to go out . Have you taken into account the very low sunspot activity in recent decades and the resultant very low levels of ionization in the ionosphere . Aha you didn't know about that or factor it in to your equasions did you ? Theory was that the ionosphere protected planet earth , and us , from harmfull rays ( uv , x ray , ir ) . life on this planet is governed by the sun
    If the c02 theory is correct we have to reduce c02 emissions AND Plant more trees . These are a double wammy as they consume c02 and produce oxygen . Remember that stuff ? it's what we all need to breath in order to live ! Electric cars will reduce polution in the inner city areas but won't make one jot of difference to the planetary climate . And if we stopped burning Coal and oil today , I doubt we would see any change in planetary climate for at least 10 – 20 years ( lock down for a year reduced c02 emissions but did nothing for the global climate .)
    I can only hope that Brasil stops de forestation , and starts the production of cheap green eco friendly re newable biodiesel . That would be Good .
    Ah well , that is my eco save the planet rant done .
    Am I right or am I right ? thank you .

  23. @greglander5227

    December 28, 2025 at 7:10 am

    This video is nothing but Propaganda!
    in last 200 years Earth's temp has raised .7 degrees!
    Plants will all die if CO2 drops to 150 ppm.
    These people should all be put in prison for lying!

  26. @mijboogie

    December 28, 2025 at 7:10 am

    This are lies. CO2 could be solved by plants and water. It removes the carbon from co2 and than you got O2/oxygen. What we breath. Carbon is food for plants and sea algen. If really co2 rises it also should lower O2 level and it didn’t. If oxygen level drops by a bit, we ll drop instantly.

    The melting of the ice on the pool doesn’t raise the sea level. Basic physics. Only low educated foks ll believe this fairytale propaganda stories.

    They want your freedom and wealth. And they ll get it, because most people are dumb.

  27. @sdbeaudry99

    December 28, 2025 at 7:10 am

    This explanation is hilarious. Imagine a greenhouse with 0,04% glass. I bet it wouldn't be very effective. And what is so special about CO2, why isn't O2 and N2 a greenhouse gas? Also the illustration shows 2 things that cannot be 1) the concentration at 0.04% would be EXTREMELY sparse (basically not visible) 2) the illustration shows CO2 high in the atmosphere, given that its heavier than N2 or O2 it wouldn't be high in the atmosphere

  28. @abelgarcia5432

    December 28, 2025 at 7:10 am

    CO2 is a poor, poor greenhouse gas. There is a peer-reviewed that says the concentration of CO2 is up to 400x the current levels and the temperature was temperature like today.

  29. @alfredvinciguerra532

    December 28, 2025 at 7:10 am

    Sure Sherlock the planet is still in the middle of an ice age which is unusual in itself in the history of the earth, uttering lots BS doesn’t help your argument, CO2 actually helps plant grows which supports more biodiversity and higher agriculture yields for humans

  35. @alexrobson5439

    December 28, 2025 at 7:10 am

    LISTEN PEOPLE:
    Looking at Earths Temperature… C02 does NOTHING to earths TEMRETURE. We have had massive swings in temperature in the last 100 000 years.
    So there is not good correlation between CO2 & Temperature!!!
    You know what pattern REALLY fits Earths temperature? SUN SPOT CYCLES and EARTHS TEMPRETURE. El Nino / La Nina

  38. @wrath276

    December 28, 2025 at 7:10 am

    You say CO2 traps heat, do you mean energy? You do not explain how CO2 traps energy. Does it trap it forever so the Earth get continually hotter or does it just slow it's escape to Space? In a gas the only way to retain energy is to increase its kinetic energy. As the gases in the atmosphere are always losing the kinetic energy it receives by conduction and convection from the surface to Space, how is the additional kinetic energy from CO2 any different? Please give a comment to explain the trapping you say occurs. If CO2 traps radiation it can only do so by converting it to kinetic energy. CO2 interacts with low energy photons for on a tiny fraction of time, after the interaction it is left in the same state as before it interacted withe photon. Is this not correct? I cannot see where the trapping occurs.

  40. @israeloblia995

    December 28, 2025 at 7:10 am

    It doesnt take thousands of years if someone plants a tree three times a day. It’s not hard if we all shift and focus on ways to change humanity. Life in true form is simply life.

  41. @rob-yt9di

    December 28, 2025 at 7:10 am

    I thought CO2 is excited only by a narrow band of low energy Infra red so it absorbs that from the sunlight … That energy would have travelled to the surface anyway. The heat radiated from the earth during daytime cant add to the CO2 energy and it will carry on out to space. By far the most energetic is the Ultra violet which does not energise CO2 and that is where most of the earths heating comes from. The main systems of heat transfer is via convection and co2 plays no part in that. The CO2 alarmism is based on theory and has never been empirically proven so please tell me why people are so sure that it is a major problem?

Comments are closed.

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