Carbon dioxide is the most important of the Earth's long-lived greenhouse gases. It absorbs less heat per molecule than the greenhouse gases methane or nitrous oxide, but remains in the atmosphere much longer. Carbon dioxide absorbs wavelengths of thermal energy, which has a unique influence on the greenhouse effect.
Without this natural greenhouse effect, the Earth's average temperature would be below freezing. Human-caused pollution is now occurring on such a scale that it has thrown the Earth's energy budget out of balance. The environmental gases released into the ecosystem trap extra heat and raise the Earth's temperature. Increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide are now responsible for over 60% of the global temperature increase.
Carbon dioxide also dissolves in the ocean, where it produces carbonic acid and lowers the pH of the ocean. Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, the pH of ocean surface waters has become more acidic by over 30%. Increasing acidity disrupts the ability of marine life to extract calcium from the water to build shells and skeletons. More heat means that the oceans cannot hold all the stored carbon dioxide and therefore release it into the atmosphere, which exacerbates warming.
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