Is carbon dioxide making it harder to THINK straight? Rising CO2 levels may hinder cognitive function and could decrease decision-making efficiency by 50 PERCENT in 2100, study says
- Carbon emissions may have a drastic impact on cognitive function
- Researchers say that CO2 may decrease classroom decision making
- It could reduce decision making by as much as 50 percent in 2100, they say
Rational thought may eventually become a victim climate change according to a new study.
Research presented by scientists at the annual American Geophysical Union and submitted to the journal GeoHealth suggests that increased CO2 may soon diminish humans’ capacity to think clearly.
The findings follow previous studies that show how indoor air pollution and poor ventilation can hinder people’s ability to perform mentally, including a study published last year from the University College London.
Carbon emissions may be doing more than warming the world. Scientists say it could also be hindering humans’ ability to think clearly (stock photo)
‘Human cognitive performance declines with an increase in CO2’, the researchers wrote in the paper.
‘Direct impacts of CO2 emissions on human cognitive performance may be unavoidable.’
Those studies concluded that circulating air and regulating the amount of CO2 trapped in a room can help mitigate the effects of too much CO2, but new research suggests ventilation in a climate change-addled future might just make matters worse.
To study the effects, scientists looked at how increased CO2 levels might impact a typical classroom, factoring in an average number of students, the physical size of the class, as well as normal ventilation rates.
It also used two different climate models – one that factors in reductions in CO2 and another that projects conditions if emissions continue unfettered.
In the model that factors in some emissions intervention, scientists say decision making in the classroom could decrease by 25 percent while a model without emissions mitigation could see a whopping 50 percent reduction.
As CO2 levels increase so too does the difficult in ventilating rooms with outside air (Stock photo)
Though previous studies have shown a correlation between brain function and CO2, not much is currently understood about why the gas affects our brains the way it does.
As noted by Gizmodo, a previous study on CO2’s correlation to brain function showed that an increase as little as 5 percent had reduces brain activity.
No current research has studied the kind of long-term exposure that will would result from rampant climate change.
As noted by researchers, however, all of the adverse effects of CO2 on mental performance can still be averted by making a concerted effort to lower emissions and stave off climate change.