Humble Pie!

I have to make a correction to a previous blog. I made an error and I need to apologize, and correct the misinformation. Something didn't jive with the conclusion I made and what I'd been taught, and it was bothering me all week, especially after I'd explained the idea again in another conversation. So I did further research and found my source of information was a misprint. I've contacted the publisher and if they also hold themselves accountable, I suspect they'll issue a retraction as well.

So what was the faux paw? I had stated in the blog "Waiting to Exhale", that the process of breathing doesn't produce excess CO2...Wrong.
In physiology, respiration (or just breathing) is defined as the transport of oxygen from the outside air to the cells within tissues, and the transport of carbon dioxide in the opposite direction. (Wikipedia)

The air we breath consists of 78% nitrogen, 20.9% oxygen, .9% argon, .04% carbon dioxide, and so on. The physiology manual of my dive masters course had stated that the carbon dioxide we exhale is .04% of the content of our breath, when in fact it's 4%. I should have checked the source.

It drove me crazy because I know a re-breather, used in diving, scrubs CO2 from the exhaled air. So logically there would have to be some extra CO2 to remove to make the air re-breathable. Also the chemical reaction of the cells burning oxygen has to have a by-product, CO2 ! That has to exit the body some how. It just irked me all week, the whole thing didn't add up.

So after further review I have to retract my statement, and apologize to the global warming enthusiast, and you. I've passed my findings on to PADI, and the publisher of the manual, and I'm certain they will also take steps to correct this.

This is a great teachable moment. First it's important to check our sources before forming a conclusion! Secondly it's critical to make right what ever's been misrepresented. "The truth tamper with is truth lost." A. J. Nock.

God Bless
Capt. Bill