Carbon Dioxide Emissions Affect People’s Cognitive Ability

Rising levels of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere can have a direct impact on people’s cognitive ability, according to a new study.

Higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can affect people’s memory, concentration and ability to make decisions. This is shown in a study from researchers at University College London that has compiled research on how people’s cognitive ability is affected by an increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

“Half of the studies that have been reviewed show that people’s cognitive ability is decreasing with increased levels of carbon dioxide,” the researchers write, which also points out that so much research has not yet been done in the field.

The researchers believe that the high probability of increased concentrations of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere means that the direct impact on people’s cognitive ability is inevitable.

The researchers have also investigated what effects the rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can have on buildings’ ventilation systems. The ability to concentrate may decrease after a long day at the office is well known, and this may be due, among other things, to just rising indoor levels of carbon dioxide that people inside the office have exhaled during the day. The study shows that this can be a bigger problem in the future, and therefore noticeable differences in the ventilation needs of buildings are expected to occur already during this century.

On the one hand, the researchers point out that high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may affect the design and development of ventilation systems. At the same time, they note that higher levels of carbon dioxide outdoors will lead to more energy being needed to ventilate buildings.

“As the level of carbon dioxide rises outdoors, any attempt to prevent the rising concentration of carbon dioxide emissions indoors will require significant increased energy use,” the researchers write.

They also note that there is a risk that climate change is being driven by the increasing energy requirements for ventilation systems, provided that the increased supply of heat and electricity to the ventilation systems does not come from renewable sources.