Your Breathing Causes Global Warming
Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center Frequently Asked Global Change Questions says that burning a gallon of gasoline produces 19.6 pounds of carbon dioxide, 8.8 kilograms, and a person’s breathing produces about 1 kilogram per day(though it depends on how hard he is breathing). Suppose I drive about 20 miles per day, using one gallon of gasoline. Then every day my car generates 8.8 kilograms of carbon dioxide and my breathing generates 1 kilogram. So driving does contribute more.[I misread the number as 1kg/HOUR in the draft of the post earlier today]
The CDIAC site says that my breathing is not a net contributor to carbon dioxide because I do not emit more than I eat in the form of plant and animal food, and those plants and animals’ carbon came from the atmosphere ultimately. That is wrong. My breathing does add carbon dioxide; it’s just that my other activities ultimately subtract the same amount. If, however, I stopped eating, we could take the food I eat and bury it and that would reduce greenhouse gases far more than if I had just stopped driving.
Later that day: Come to think of it, let’s check the numbers. First, gasoline. One gallon is 8 pints, which is 8 pounds of water. Water is H20, Oxygen basically. Gasoline is various C-H compounds, Carbon basically, which is lighter than oxygen (hence oil floats on water). Thus,one gallon has, say, 6 pounds of carbon, which combines with 2 parts Oxygen to make CO2— 6+8+8=22 pounds, pretty close to 19.6.
Now check breathing. 1 kilogram of C02 per day is about 2 pounds which is about .8 pounds of carbon per day. I have to get all that carbon by eating, and much of my food is water, not carbon. I suppose I eat about 4 pounds of food per day, of which 1 pound is carbon, so that matches up pretty well.