Effects of Net Zero by 2050 – Summary

Physics Proves that Policies by the United States and Other Countries to Reduce CO2 Emissions to Net Zero by the Year 2050 and Eliminate Fossil Fuels Will Have A Trivial Effect on Temperature and Weather, But Disastrous Effects for the Average Citizen and Countries Worldwide

We are career physicists with a special expertise in radiation physics, which describes how carbon dioxide (CO2) affects heat flow in Earth’s atmosphere.

Saturation. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has long claimed that the “evidence is clear that carbon dioxide (CO2) is the main driver of climate change,” where they define “main driver” to mean “responsible for more than 50% of the change.”

To the contrary, physics proves that carbon dioxide is not now, nor at higher levels, “the main driver of climate change.” At the level carbon dioxide is at now, about 420 parts per million (ppm), physics is clear that it no longer is an effective greenhouse gas.

Carbon dioxide’s ability to warm the planet is now very small because its effects on Earth’s heat flow are what is called in physics “saturated.” Further increases in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere cannot cause catastrophic global warming or extreme weather, only slight and beneficial increases in warming. (Neither can methane and nitrous oxide, whose level is so small that they are irrelevant to climate).

Net Zero by 2050 Will Have Only a Tiny Effect on Temperature. As we have demonstrated in a technical report,  reducing United States and worldwide CO2 emissions to Net Zero by 2050 will avoid only a tiny temperature increase:

• United States Net Zero by 2050 — only 2/100 °F ( (0.015 ◦F)
• Worldwide Net Zero by 2050 — only 13/100 °F (0.13 ◦F)

These numbers are trivial, but their cost is immense.

Disastrous Net Zero Effects on the U.S. and Worldwide. The United States and worldwide Net Zero regulations and subsidies will have disastrous effects, including but not limited to, essentially eliminating in numerous countries, but not all:

• gas cars and trucks, and forced purchasing of electric vehicles (EVs)
• fossil fuel electric plants that provide the majority of electricity worldwide
• gas furnaces, gas stoves and gas heaters, and requiring heat pumps and electric appliances
• fossil fuels because they are the source of approximately 90% of human carbon dioxide emissions
• fossil fuels critical to producing nitrogen fertilizer that feeds nearly half the world • weekend car driving and restricting airplane travel
• farms and a shift in diets away from meat and dairy products related jobs and revenue they create
• substantial market investments in businesses that create jobs and GDP because of subsidies and regulations diverting huge amounts of capital to achieve Net Zero, for example, $12 trillion in global renewable energy investment
• the increased food that more carbon dioxide creates

In addition, various countries require companies to report carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions and what they are doing to reduce them. However, since carbon dioxide is saturated, that data is immaterial, misleading and very expensive. Therefore it should not be done.

More Carbon Dioxide Means More Food. Contrary to common reporting, carbon dioxide is essential to life on earth. Since carbon dioxide is now saturated, more carbon dioxide increases the amount of food available to people worldwide, with no risk of catastrophic global warming or extreme weather. For example, if carbon dioxide doubled to 800 ppm, carbon dioxide will increase the food available worldwide by approximately 60%.

Accordingly, Net Zero regulations and subsidies in the United States and worldwide must be stopped as soon as possible to avoid disastrous effects on Americans, America, and people and countries worldwide

Further, fossil fuels must continue to be used and expanded to provide more carbon dioxide and make more nitrogen fertilizer to make more food available around the world, and to provide reliable and inexpensive energy for people everywhere.

Read the entire Net Zero Averted Temperature Increase report here: https://co2coalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Net-Zero-Averted-Temperature-Increase-2024-06-11.pdf

References

Lindzen, W. Happer and W. van Wijngaarden, Net Zero Avoided Temperature Increase, (Net Zero Averted Temperature Increase – CO2 Coalition; https://co2coalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Net-Zero-Averted-Temperature-Increase-2024-06-11.pdf

R. Lindzen, W. Happer and S. Koonin, “Fossil Fuels and Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) Climate Science