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Here's my take on the CO2 debate, which comes partly from my understanding after taking a chemistry course where this topic was discussed in length.
It is fact that CO2 (along with water vapor, CFC's, and other gasses) absorb high quantities of IR light (this is invisible to the naked eye, but every living organism emits IR light). When the IR light is absorbed by CO2, the bonds between the carbon and oxygen atoms vibrate and cause atoms of CO2 to move faster (the definition of temperature).
It's not up to debate whether to or not an increase in CO2 will increase the temperature of the planet. The vast majority of the scientific community agrees that temperatures will rise. The question (at least in the scientific community) is how much will temperatures rise and will it make a difference in things such as ocean levels and the biology of the planet.
The bigger question after this becomes should governments try to reduce/stop the increase in CO2 in the atmosphere. I personally think yes, because private citizens and companies do not work in unison, and therefore it would be very hard/impossible to get these entities to stop releasing CO2 in appreciable amounts. But this should only be done if carbon dioxide does prove to be a threat to biology.
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