The chemical element carbon seems to have a bad press these days; people dream of becoming carbon neutral and achieving net zero carbon emissions; they wish to transition to a post-carbon economy and, in the meantime, worry about the size of their carbon footprint (a term popularised by a $250 million ad campaign by BP in an attempt to convince individuals that they too were responsible for greenhouse gases and that it was unfair simply to point the finger of blame at the fossil fuel industry).*
But carbon, despite what eco-evangelists may believe - and unlike suphur, obviously - really isn't diabolical in nature (it is produced within stars, not the burning pits of Hell).
In fact, thanks to its universal abundance, unique diversity of organic compounds, and a rare ability to form polymers in the terrestrial temperature range, carbon is sometimes referred to as the king of elements and serves as a basis for all known life.
The human body, for example, is composed of about 18% carbon and green plants (which are 45% carbon) can't get enough of the stuff, using it as they do to photosynthesise vital organic compounds.
Thus, I don't imagine our vegetal friends are too unhappy that - thanks to human activity - there's now more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than there used to be (and before anyone starts wetting their pants about global warming, it's worth remembering that if it wasn't for CO2 and other GHG trapping the sun's heat so that it doesn't escape back into space, the oceans would be frozen solid).
Of course, no one's saying that the warmer it is, the better it is; I'm not denying a significant rise in global temperature could be problematic (even for plants - who can only suck up and store so much extra carbon dioxide). I'm simply pointing out to those who mistakenly think of carbon as an evil pollutant which makes the environment dirty and impure, that this isn't the case.
As always, things are complicated - and not helped by those who wish to moralise everything.
* See Mark Kaufman's essay 'The Carbon Footprint Sham' on the digital media and news website Mashable: click here.
