Moskau50 t1_jadimub wrote on February 28, 2023 at 5:37 PM

Plants and algae are constantly converting carbon dioxide to oxygen (and sugar) using water and sunlight. This more than makes up for the oxygen they use to stay alive; the extra oxygen is what we rely on to breathe.

But just because of the size of the Earth and the atmosphere, it would take a long time for any changes to propagate through it. This also means that any attempts to fix a problem with the atmosphere (like excess carbon dioxide) would also take a long time to take effect.

breckenridgeback t1_jadkcjh wrote on February 28, 2023 at 5:47 PM

It's worth noting that CO2 levels are far lower than oxygen levels in the atmosphere, so it's much easier to change the (relative) amount of CO2 than it is to change the (relative) amount of O2.