Content-Type: text/html Wikipedia: Carbon dioxide

[Home]Carbon dioxide

HomePage | RecentChanges | Preferences | Random Page
You can edit this page right now! It's a free, community project

Carbon dioxide, or CO2, is an atmospheric gas composed of one carbon and two oxygen atoms. In solid form it is sometimes known as [dry ice]?, since it sublime?s at atmospheric pressure. As a gas it is opaque to infrared energy, and odorless and colorless.

In biochemistry it is commonly produced by animals that break down sugars with oxygen as part of their metabolism?. Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere by plants, that use photosynthesis? of carbon dioxide and water to produce free oxygen gas and hydrocarbon plant materials.

Increases in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as a result of burning hydrocarbons such as coal and petroleum oils has created a condition currently known as global warming, due to the decrease of energy leaving the earth.

See also environmental agreements


HomePage | RecentChanges | Preferences | Random Page
You can edit this page right now! It's a free, community project
Edit text of this page | View other revisions
Last edited August 9, 2001 2:11 pm (diff)
Search: