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Julie Hambleton
Julie Hambleton
December 11, 2023 ·  3 min read

By The End Of The Century, Humanity Might Get A Lot Dumber

We all know the consequences that climate change is having on our planet: Extreme weather events, loss of habitats, animal, plant, and insect distinction, and so on. What we likely didn’t know are the effects that it has on our brains. Research shows that if carbon dioxide (CO2) levels continue to rise at this rate, humanity might get a lot dumber by the end of the century. (1)

Humanity Might Get A Lot Dumber Because of Indoor CO2 Levels

We’ve all been there before: Stuck in a long meeting at work, a three-hour lecture at school, or we’ve simply been sitting inside for too long makes us start to feel really sleepy. After a few minutes of breathing in that fresh, outdoor air, however, and we begin to feel a lot more energetic.

This, in part, has to do with the CO2 concentrations inside enclosed spaces. Even well-ventilated rooms are higher than the outdoors, especially in a room with many people breathing out heaps of the gas. (1)

A group of scientists looked at the impact that the rising levels of CO2 in our atmosphere – and therefore indoors, as well, could have on our brains. In short, they’ve discovered that humanity might get a lot dumber. (1)

“It’s amazing how high CO2 levels get in enclosed spaces,” said Kris Karnauskas, lead author of the study. “It affects everybody—from little kids packed into classrooms to scientists, business people and decision-makers to regular folks in their houses and apartments.” (2)

Read: Worried about Earth’s future? Well, the outlook is worse than even scientists can grasp

Why Does CO2 Make Us Dumber?

When you breathe in air with a high CO2 concentration, the CO2 levels in your blood also go up. This then decreases the amount of oxygen getting to your brain. Not only can this make you sleepy, but it can also increase anxiety and decrease complex cognitive functions, such as decision making. (1)

“building ventilation typically modulates CO2 levels in buildings, but there are situations when there are too many people and not enough fresh air to dilute the CO2.” says coauthor Shelly Miller. (2)

Current CO2 concentrations are around 414 ppm. By 2100, the scientists expect that this will reach 930 ppm outdoors and up to 1400 ppm indoors. In cities, these numbers could be another 100ppm higher. (1)

“At this level, some studies have demonstrated compelling evidence for significant cognitive impairment,” said Anna Schapiro, another coauthor. “Though the literature contains some conflicting findings and much more research is needed, it appears that high level cognitive domains like decision-making and planning are especially susceptible to increasing CO2 concentrations.” (2)

The researchers predict that the projected levels by the end of the century could:

  • Decrease decision-making abilities by 25%
  • Decrease Complex strategic thinking by 50%. (1)

We Are Causing The Increase of CO2 Levels and Now We Need To Stop It

Our use of fossil fuels since the industrial revolution is the driving force between the increase in CO2 levels. Burning fossil fuels not only pumps CO2 into the atmosphere, but the warming of our planet and the acidification of our oceans is killing plankton, sea plants, and other plant life that clean our air of CO2 are becoming less and less. (1)

“This is a complex problem, and our study is at the beginning. It’s not just a matter of predicting global (outdoor) CO2 levels,” Karnauskas said. “It’s going from the global background emissions, to concentrations in the urban environment, to the indoor concentrations, and finally the resulting human impact. We need even broader, interdisciplinary teams of researchers to explore this: investigating each step in our own silos will not be enough.” (2)

Having studied this extensively, he knows that the situation is dire.

“By the end of the century, people who are trying to solve this problem of climate change, which is a complex problem, are going to half as good at doing that.” he warned. “This is a hidden impact of climate change that could actually impact our ability to solve the problem itself.” (3)

We need to combat climate change and stop CO2 levels from rising further before we’re too dumb to figure it out.

Keep Reading: The Planet Could Have Catastrophic Surprises in Store

Sources

  1. Fossil Fuel Combustion Is Driving Indoor CO2 Toward Levels Harmful to Human Cognition.” Agu Pubs. Kristopher B. Karnauskas, Shelly L. Miller, Anna C. Schapiro. April 20, 2020
  2. Continued CO2 Emissions Will Impair Cognition.” CIRES. April 20, 2020.
  3. Indoor carbon dioxide can make us dumber, and that will get worse with climate changePop Sci. Ula Chrobak. December 16, 2019.