re: #584 Salamantis

And atmospheric CO2 currently stands at 387 parts per MILLION. In other words, for every molecule of CO2 in the atmosphere, there are 2584 molecules of other gases. By comparison, oxygen comprises 21% of the atmosphere or about 1 in 5 (far and away the most common atmospheric gas is nitrogen, at 78%, and all; the other atmospheric gases combined comprise only a bit more than 1%, most of that being argon). Not included in this composition is the 1% of the atmosphere that is dissolved water vapor.

I find it amazing that plant life is so efficient at gathering the relatively sparse atmospheric CO2 that it does not suffocate and die.

Extremely minute quantities of chemicals can be incredibly toxic - dioxin comes to mind. Many organisms and ecosystems are really quite fragile.