How does CO2 affect global warming?

CO2 is a good thing. Plants use CO2 to produce oxygen, without which we wouldn’t be here. Even as a greenhouse gas, CO2 is a good thing: without it, the Earth would be too cold. However, we must enjoy all good things in moderation lest they overrun us and tip the scale. It used to be that wide-eyed stargazers thought Venus must be a planet of lush paradise, tantalizingly warm and verdant, a tropical planet of wonder. Turns out that’s not quite the case. Because Venus has way too much CO2, there is a runaway greenhouse effect that has baked the planet into a sterile rock. What is the greenhouse effect? We know that virtually all our energy comes from the Sun. The greenhouse effect is that effect which amplifies the Sun’s energy by not allowing reflected energy to escape back into space, instead keeping it here on Earth. The Greenhouse Effect is, in short, the insulating blanket effect of our atmosphere. The greenhouse effect is performed by certain "greenhouse gases" in the atmosphere, ...  more