Because it sounds reasonable, it reflects your experiences (stuffy -> headache -> lack of concentration), and you want a clear solution. But humans fucking suck at causal analysis. We all fall for it. Best we can do is get upset at the communicator (news/magazine/whatever) to put pressure for them to actually do their job. But also it is important that we are willing to update our beliefs instead of doubling down. All too common armchair experts arm themselves and fight real experts, who get very confused/frustrated.
FWIW, CO2 can cause cognitive decline. I mean hypoxia is a thing. But usually CO2 levels are a correlating factor (confounder) rather than the direct cause. So we can use it as a tool to help, but it isn't the problem. These types of things are the hard part about causality and why we are so easily fooled (because it makes sense and reflects what we (naively) observe).
Lol TED talks are a joke [0]. But depending on where one lives, better air quality may be inside or outside. The cleanest air I can breathe locally is in my grow room that is completely sealed except for a HEPA intake w/ same size exhaust that resupplies all new air per ~5 minutes, while I smoke my spliff, and it is very noticeable. I think I'm dumb for a lot of reasons but now I can add CO2 to the mix.
