View Single Post
Old 06-06-2018, 06:33 PM   #14 (permalink)
jamesqf
Master EcoModder
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Earth
Posts: 5,209
Thanks: 225
Thanked 811 Times in 594 Posts
What this is overlooking is the temperature dependence of photosynthesis. C3 efficiency starts dropping around 25C, and shuts down entirely around 45C. C4 photosynthesis works at a bit higher temperature, peaking around 35C, but even it shuts down around 55C: https://kuensting.org/school/bb/cell...osynthesis.htm

So you put enough CO2 into the air to raise temperatures into this range (even if only in the tropics), and then goes a chunk of the biosphere. And of course it's a positive feedback: fewer plants recycling CO2 means more goes into the atmosphere, which means more temperature increase, which means even less photosynthesis...
  Reply With Quote