eli5: If plants and trees thrive on Carbon dioxide, and humans are producing more carbon dioxide, does that mean vegetation is benefiting from greenhouse gases? If not, how come?
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The degree plants can benefit from higher CO2 is limited because there need other things. Most plants have access to plenty of CO2 already, so there is some, but not much, added potential there. Other things plants need, such as water, phosphorus, and/or fixed nitrogen are generally the more limiting factors. Also, a particular plant species evolved to live in a particular environment or range of environments. If the climate and ecosystem change as a result of more CO2, that can stress or kill the plant.
Taken to the extreme, too much CO2 is also toxic to plants. For example, corn will show symptoms of CO2 toxicity within several days of being in a 1% CO2 (24x current atmospheric levels) at sea level pressure. (Plants just use CO2 to make their food. They need oxygen to use that food like animals and fungi, and can’t hold onto or make enough O2 on their own to live. At even higher CO2 levels, plants will suffocate.)
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