Researchers continue to investigate the effects of carbon dioxide levels on human thinking and behavior. Karnauskas, Miller and Schapiro have determined that “As the 21st century progresses, rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations will cause urban and indoor levels of the gas to increase, and that may significantly reduce our basic decision-making ability and complex strategic thinking…By the end of the century, people could be exposed to indoor CO2 levels up to 1400 parts per million – more than three times today’s outdoor levels and well beyond what humans have ever experienced…Put simply, when we breathe air with high CO2 levels, the CO2 levels in our blood rise, reducing the amount of oxygen that reaches our brains. Studies show that this can increase sleepiness and anxiety, and impair cognitive function…at 1400 ppm, CO2 concentrations may cut our basic decision-making ability by 25%, and complex strategic thinking by around 50%.” This study is published in GeoHealth.
“Continued CO2 Emissions Will Impair Cognition.” 2020. Press release, University of Colorado Boulder, https://cires.colorado.edu/news/continued-co2-emissions-will-impair-cognition
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.