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All IPCC definitions taken from Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Working Group I Contribution to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Annex I, Glossary, pp. 941-954. Cambridge University Press.

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Comments 126901 to 126950:

  1. How do we know CO2 is causing warming?
    Henry Pool, put numbers on those absorption you claim has not been considered, but do not forget the presence of other absorbing species. This is the evidence that you do not see. And as repeatedly said no more tests are nedded, they are all well know (if you mind to look for them around on the internet or in a database of optical properties). Then, based on the known numbers, the net effect of 1.7 W/m2 is calculated exactly the way you ask, taking into account the absorption properties of all the constituents of the atmosphere.
  2. How do we know CO2 is causing warming?
    Dear Riccardo, on my graph of the solar radiation spectrum I have clear gaps caused by CO2, especially at 1,4; at 1.8, and 2.4 (um); we know from the tables that the solar radiation carries on, so that means it also neatralizes some of the sun's radiation at between 4 and 5 um. In addition, I also heard that they use the UV absorption of carbon dioxide to determine the presence of carbon dioxide on other planets. So for you to say there is no cooling caused by carbon dioxide clearly flies in the face of all the evidence in front of me. Therefore we need specific testing that will determine how much cooling and how much warming is caused by the carbon dioxide. What we need to establish: what is the nett effect? Now if you can tell me exactly how the 1.7 was arrived at?
  3. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Tom Dayton - re:your post #66 The difference is that Adiabatic Warming does NOT VIOLATE the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics! "These clouds absorb the radiation emitted by the earth and radiate it back down toward the earth's surface, warming the air." http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/temperature/temperature_radiation_heat_p_2.html “Second Law of Thermodynamics: It is not possible for heat to flow from a colder body to a warmer body without any work having been done to accomplish this flow. Energy will not flow spontaneously from a low temperature object to a higher temperature object.” http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/thermo/seclaw.html#c3 Hmmm, now which one should I believe, the one that complies with Laws of Science or the one that violates Laws of Science?
  4. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Um... But Gord, the very same online book you just cited in comment 65 answers RSVP's question exactly the way RSVP said that most people answer it, and also explicitly states that air transfers energy down toward the surface. See http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/temperature/temperature_radiation_heat_p_2.html
  5. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    RSVP - re:your post #63 The answer is Adiabatic Warming. Here is a link. Adiabatic temperature change and stability http://www.uwsp.edu/geO/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/atmospheric_moisture/lapse_rates_1.html
  6. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Shawnhet - re: your Post#62 Here is another way to look at it. The Solar Constant is the Solar Flux reaching the Earth before the Disk Averaging takes place. The Solar Constant for a Sun temp of 5778 K is 1368 w/m^2. To get the Earth as a Disk average you simply divide the 1368 w/m^2 by 4 to get 342 w/m^2 which is used by Trenberth's Energy Budget Diagram as the average Solar radiation at the top of the atmosphere. The 342 w/m^2 is the average Day and Night Solar insolation. The reason you divide by 4 is Area of Sphere = 4*Pi*R^2 and Area of Disk = Pi*R^2 has a ratio of 4 to 1. Without the Disk Averaging all the Solar Constant 1368 w/m^2 would be received at the Earth's equator and less at other latitudes because of the angle of the higher latitudes. Zero w/m^2 will be received at the Poles. The two equations describe the two situations. Hope this helps.
  7. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Question for Gord How does one explain the following... During two consecutive nights in a high desert location, there is no appreciable wind at ground level for two days. On the first night temperatures drop to 5 degrees C, while and on the second it goes below freezing. The only observed conditions at ground level between one night and the next were the high clouds of the first night. Most people usually attribute the warmer night to the cloud coverage that seems to act as a "blanket". Is there some fallacy to this model, and if so, what would be a better way to describe what is going on?
  8. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Gord, I don't understand your point. I think we more or less agree up until the point where you calculate (for all practical purposes) how much energy would be absorbed if we peeled the "skin" off the Earth and stretched it out into a disk equi-distant to the sun(than it is now). The fact is your value as presented has no physical meaning. The Earth does have a night period and a day period and the energy of the Earth as a whole must take this into account. If you want to calculate the maximum insolation received by some portion of the Earth for some portion of the day, that's great, but it needs to be placed in some kind of context to have any meaning to the behavior of the Earth as a whole(IOW it has to be averaged or distributed somehow). IAC, your post to me has two different equations to allow you to derive the temperature of the Earth and they must be mutually contradictory(when you equate the 2 expressions for TE, you end up with D=2D such that D cannot equal 0). Cheers, :)
  9. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    NASA now has a site for neat summaries of the data - http://climate.nasa.gov
  10. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    shawnhet - re: your post#54 No, I'm not "off base". The Spherical Earth receives Solar Flux at an angle at all points except the Equator. It is only the vector portion of the flux that is 'normal' to the surface that will cause heating. All 'normals' to a spherical surface will be on a line passing through the center of the sphere. When you Integrate Solar Flux over the Spherical surface (this is called a surface Integral) facing the Sun, it is done by using a projection of the sphere onto a 2D plane. This projection is a disk (actually a circle) that has an Area = Pi X Radius^2. It will produce a Solar Flux density averaged over the disk with no variations for the Equator or any lattitude. You can see the development of this equation here: The Solar Radiation received by the Earth (modelled as a disk, a projection of a sphere onto a 2D plane) represents an average flux density over the entire spherical surface facing the Sun. This quantity is called PEabs, the average solar energy absorbed by the Earth facing the Sun. The emitted energy uses the Earth as a sphere. This is called PEemt. The two quantities are then equated and this equation is the result: TE = TS (((1-a)^0.5 * Rs)/(2*D))^0.5 So this equation represents the Solar Energy received by a disk Earth facing the Sun and emitted by a fully spherical Earth. TE is an average Night and Day temperature in absence of an atmosphere. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_body ------------ To get the equation for the Earth as a sphere one just has to substitute the area of a sphere A = 4 X Pi X Radius^2 in place of A = Pi X Radius^2. And, you get this equation: TE = TS ( ( (1-a)^0.5 * Rs)/D) ) )^0.5) This will give the temp for Max Solar energy at the Earth's equator...not an average Earth temp. Hope this helps.
  11. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Steve - re:your post #56 Geez Steve, what other energy source other than the Sun, is capable of heating the Earth to +15 deg C ? It just takes a "piddly" 390 w/m^2 X Surface Area of The Earth = 390 w/m^2 X 4 X Pi X Radius^2 = 390 X 4 X Pi X (6.371 x 10^6)^2 = 1.99 X 10^17 watts....that's all. Any Ideas? -------------- Here are some Calculations for Mars and Venus. Venus "The atmospheric mass is 93 times that of Earth's atmosphere while the pressure at the planet's surface is about 92 times that at Earth's surface..." Surface temp (mean) 735K or 461.85 deg C It has an atmosphere that is composed of 96.5% CO2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus Mars, atmosphere "The surface pressure on Mars is only about 0.7% of the average surface pressure at sea level on Earth." It has an atmosphere that is composed of 95.3% CO2. The surface temp is about 250K or -23 deg C. http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/M/Marsatmos.html Solar Constants Venus (2647 w/m^2 - 2576 w/m^2)= average of 2611.5 w/m^2 Mars (715 w/m^2 - 492 w/m^2)= average of 603.5 w/m^2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_constant#Solar_constant Heating due to the Solar Constants/4 using Stephan Boltzman Law and (albedo = 0): Venus = 327.58 K or +54.43 deg C Black body temp. Mars = 227.12 K or -46.03 deg C Black body temp. With the addition of an atmosphere the temp increases are: Venus = 735K - 327.58K = 407.42K (461.85 C - 54.43 C = 407.42 deg C) Mars = 250K - 227.12K = 22.88K (-23 deg C -(-46.03 C)= 23 deg C) It should be obvious that Venus and Mars have about the same amount of CO2 in their atmosphere (96.5% and 95.3%) yet their temperature increases due to the addition of an atmosphere vary by 407.42 deg C - 23 deg C = 384.42 deg C! CO2 obviously does NOT have any effect on the temperature increases of these planets. The Ideal Gas Law PV = RT gives the general relationship between Pressure P and temperature T. Venus has a much larger atmospheric pressure than Mars thus the Venus temperature is much higher than Mars! CO2 has absolutely nothing to do with these planetary temperatures! ---------------------- Re: Your link: http://skepticalscience.com/How-do-we-know-CO2-is-causing-warming.html I take it that you want me to explain the "Measurements of downward longwave radiation" ? Well, I have already done that. See my post #16, where I show: "All the Instruments used to measure the so called "Greenhouse Effect" prove that it does not exist! They use IR detectors that have been COOLED far below the -20 deg C atmosphere temperature to make the direct measurement POSSIBLE." I then give the Specs's for the AIRS Instrument and TES Instrument and their IR Detector COOLING temperatures that make the direct Back Radiation measurements possible. Then look at my Post #18 where I provide a link to a paper and measurements done by the Physics Dept. of Brigham Young University proving that Back Radiation cannot reach the Earth. ----------------- Now it's YOUR TURN to provide some very basic answers. 1. Please supply ANY Law of Science that supports the "Greenhouse Effect" and AGW. 2. Please supply ANY Measurement that shows that CO2 in a Colder Atmosphere can Heat up a Warmer Earth. 3. Please describe (and back-up by Physics) how a -20 deg C atmosphere can heat a -18 deg C Earth up by 33 deg C to a whopping +15 deg C. There has been over $200 Billion spent on AGW, there are thousands of papers on AGW, the IPCC has written several reports on it and countless "Scientists" say AGW is real. So, this should a "snap" for you to produce....right? Good Luck!
  12. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Chris - re:your post #55 You said... "1. The greenhouse effect doesn't violate the 2nd law, since the suppression of radiative dissipation of thermal energy from the surface by back radiation from a cooler atmosphere, doesn't require (as you assert) a flow of heat from a colder (atmosphere) to a warmer body (the surface)." First, there is no "suppression" of radiated energy from the Earth by the Atmosphere. The Radiation occurs at the speed of light and ALL the Earth's Radiation (390 w/m^2) is radiated to cold space....without "suppression"! ------ Second, the "Greenhouse Effect" links say EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE OF YOUR RANT ! Tutorial on the Greenhouse Effect- University of Arizona “In this case, the Earth still gains 240 Watts/meter2 from the sun. It still loses 240 Watts/meter2 to space. However, because the atmosphere is opaque to infrared light, the surface cannot radiate directly to space as it can on a planet without greenhouse gases. Instead, this radiation to space comes from the atmosphere. However, atmospheres radiate both up and down (just like a fire radiates heat in all directions). So although the atmosphere radiates 240 Watts/meter2 to space, it also radiates 240 Watts/meter2 toward the ground! Therefore, the surface receives more energy than it would without an atmosphere: it gets 240 Watts/meter2 from sunlight and it gets another 240 Watts/meter2 from the atmosphere — for a total of 480 Watts/meter2 in this simple model.” http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~showman/greenhouse.html The Greenhouse Effect “Absorption of longwave radiation by the atmosphere causes additional heat energy to be added to the Earth’s atmospheric system. The now warmer atmospheric greenhouse gas molecules begin radiating longwave energy in all directions. Over 90% of this emission of longwave energy is directed back to the Earth’s surface where it once again is absorbed by the surface. The heating of the ground by the longwave radiation causes the ground surface to once again radiate, repeating the cycle described above, again and again, until no more longwave is available for absorption.” http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/7h.html Both examples violate the 2nd Law because there is heat energy flowing from a colder atmosphere to a warmer Earth. The above Greenhouse Effect links describe a Perpetual Motion Machine, actually a Perpetual Motion Machine in a Positive Feedback Loop. --------- Third, Trenberth's Energy Budget Diagram clearly shows 324 w/m^2 of Back Radiation from the Colder atmosphere being ABSORBED by a warmer Earth surface ! http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/climate/greenhouse_effect_gases.html Again, EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE OF YOUR RANT ! --------- Fourth, John Cook's response to my very first Post #15 said: "Response: The atmosphere doesn't create energy. Greenhouse gases absorb outgoing infrared energy, preventing some of it from escaping out to space. The absorbed infrared energy is then reemitted in all directions, some of it heading back to Earth where it warms the surface. It's not an argument or a theory that CO2 causes global warming. It's an experimentally observed physical reality." Again, EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE OF YOUR RANT ! ---------------------- It is obvious that YOU don't understand the Greenhouse Effect, no matter how many times it is shown to you! And, it is YOU that is uses "False Logic" and YOUR argument "fundamentally fails" because it's based on "semantic confusion of heat and radiation." !! ----------------------- Next, You said... "2. The accumulation of thermal energy in the earth system under a positive radiative imbalance obviously doesn't require the "creation of energy". Your non-sequiter ("the sun is the ONLY energy source"...therefore increased thermal energy in the climate system under radiative imbalance is "a violation of The Law of Conservation of Energy") is just silly...it's equivalent to asserting that the analogy of water flowing through a reservoir under constrained outflow (my posts #41 and #43) requires "creation of mass", when nothing is being "created"; the thermal energy (or water) is simply accumulating." There is NO OTHER Energy source besides the SUN! Proof: If the Sun were removed, the Earth and Atmosphere would rapidly cool to near absolute zero!! Your argument is the same as saying your MP3 player will continue to operate when the battery is removed !! Geez, this is as fundamental as it gets. Read the Greenhouse Effect links above, they ALL create energy ! Is 390 w/m^2 of Earth Radiation greater than the 168 w/m^2 of Solar Energy heating the Earth? A CLEAR CREATION OF ENERGY! Trenberth's Energy Budget claims that the Sun, Earth and Atmosphere ARE IN RADIATIVE BALANCE ! That's why he claimes that the in-coming 235 w/m^2 of Solar Energy is BALANCED by the 235 w/m^2 out-going IR radiation ! Again, EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE OF YOUR RANT ! And, The Law of Conservation CANNOT EVER be VIOLATED...no matter how "silly" you think Laws of Science are. ----------------------------- Like I said... You just provide your "OPINIONS" ! Face the FACTS: - You have not produced ANY argument for my posts based on any Physics! - ALL your posts are just your "opinions" with ZERO Back-up. You should spend more time reading the Laws of Science and getting your facts straight before babbling your uninformed "opinions". HAHAHA...you are hilarious!
  13. CO2 has been higher in the past
    One important point: Isn't C02 concentration in the atmosphere strongly correlated with ocean temperatures at the time: ie: the oceans absorbs more c02 when the oceans, and the earth is cooler, and the oceans realease c02 as they warms/the earth is warmer? (A simple water temperature-c02 solubility relationship). The correlations in earth history between c02 concentration in the atmosphere and earth temperatures given above, therefore, are at least in part simply a reflection of this ocean temperature/c02 concentration relationship. Correlation is not causation. Therefore, the important issue is establishing to what effect earth temperature drives ocean temperature which then drives c02, and not the other way around. (This is also the reason c02 lags temperature rises at the end of ice ages by several hundred years (something Al Gore forgot to mention) the oceans take longer to warm and then release their c02).
    Response: You're correct that correlation doesn't necessarily prove causation. Causation comes from our high understanding of the radiative forcing from CO2. Reinforced by observations of the enhanced greenhouse effect. So from this, we determine the radiative forcing from CO2, calculate the radiative forcing from the sun and work out their combined effect on climate.

    Does CO2 drive temperature or the other way around? Both actually. But this is not the question addressed in Royer 2006. The focus is the measured CO2 levels and the radiative forcing they would impose on the climate - is the forcing consistent with temperature records?

    I imagine the GEOCARB carbon cycle model used would examine what drives CO2 so he possibly goes into more detail about the carbon cycle in previous papers (here's a complete list of his research complete with PDF links).
  14. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    "So bringing it all together, there are two reasons for the focus on CO2: 1. CO2 is the most dominant radiative forcing 2. CO2 radiative forcing is increasing faster than any other forcing" Wouldn't a third reason be the atmospheric life of CO2 compared with say, methane? A little more than a decade for methane. A few centuries for CO2 at least, or perhaps tens of milleniums for a portion of it, according to other studies... http://www.springerlink.com/content/t1265r6548477378/
    Response: Good point and thanks for the link. Of course, there are other reasons for the focus on CO2, not the least being we're the ones causing the CO2 rise and unless we stop CO2 emissions, the radiative forcing will only increase. But I've learned through experience to keep the "take home points" from each post down to just one or two concise points. Trying to say too much reduces the impact of the message.
  15. How do we know CO2 is causing warming?
    Henry Pool, "Sorry Tom, but the same also applies to what your friend said. If they say the cooling effect is next to nothing then I can also say the radiation being blocked from earth must be next to nothing." Being called into question as a friend of Tom (my honour :)), I will try again in a different way to clarify the different behaviour of sunlight and infrared with respect to CO2. I'll use some aproximate numbers (let me keep just a couple of decimal digits) that appears to be what you are looking for. We have sunlight coming in, similar to blackbody radiation at temperature T=5250 K: 1) no scattering; we have the opinion of a physicist of the atmosphere (i'm not). You could also google for Rayleigh scattering if you like. 2) no absorption in the visible 3) absorption in the IR. Even assuming that it's totally absorbed by CO2 in the main band at 600 cm^-1, it is roughly 10^-5 of the total incoming energy. We can safely call it zero. Infrared emitted toward space: 4) no scattering again 5) absorption by CO2, about 1.7 W/m2 more than a century and something ago. Hence, the net forcing is 1.7 W/m2. That's schematically it. You will not agree with one (or more) of these points. Tell us which, maybe it will be easier to understand what is your point. "We do not want stories that nobody can verify. We want actual figures. From actual measurements. Taken during actual experiments." You can verify all of the five points above. But do not look in climate papers, you will not find anything usefull there. It's pretty old and well established 19th century physics and for sure oil companies will not pay a penny for this research ;)
  16. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Gord, I didn't insist that the atmosphere acted just like a blanket; I said the fact that colder blankets can help you stay warm stomps on the simplistic idea that the Sun is the only factor governing temperature. You didn't take the time to follow the link the I supplied indicating that I'm not saying "the atmosphere is a blanket". And apparently you didn't bother to read the rest of the textbook or Atmoz's blogs to see why the greenhouse effect is real, despite being poorly named and despite the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. By the way, how are your calculations coming for explaining the relative surface temperatures of Mercury, Venus, and Earth? And come to think of it, here's another thing for you to explain: http://skepticalscience.com/How-do-we-know-CO2-is-causing-warming.html
  17. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    re #52, Not really Gord. We've already seen that your two fundamental assertions are based on false logic: 1. The greenhouse effect doesn't violate the 2nd law, since the suppression of radiative dissipation of thermal energy from the surface by back radiation from a cooler atmosphere, doesn't require (as you assert) a flow of heat from a colder (atmosphere) to a warmer body (the surface). However much you attempt to dress it up with false logic, your "argument" fundamentslly fails since it's based on a semantic confusion of heat and radiation. 2. The accumulation of thermal energy in the earth system under a positive radiative imbalance obviously doesn't require the "creation of energy". Your non-sequiter ("the sun is the ONLY energy source"...therefore increased thermal energy in the climate system under radiative imbalance is "a violation of The Law of Conservation of Energy") is just silly...it's equivalent to asserting that the analogy of water flowing through a reservoir under constrained outflow (my posts #41 and #43) requires "creation of mass", when nothing is being "created"; the thermal energy (or water) is simply accumulating.
  18. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    "If you treat the Earth as a sphere for the Solar Flux you get this equation:" Gord, respectfully, you're **way** off base. The amount of light shining on a sphere is exactly the same as if there were a disk continually facing the light source(if you take a photograph of a sphere it will always look like a disk). Your equation might make sense if there was no such thing as nighttime on any part of the Earth, though. Cheers, :)
  19. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Does anybody here understand any Physics? Take the time to go through my posts, and make a reasonable argument based on FACTS and PHYSICS. Opinions are just "ranting". I will be back later.
  20. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Steve - re: your Post #50 The Blanket analogy is false: Do Greenhouse Gases Act As Blankets? http://atmoz.org/blog/2007/08/08/do-greenhouse-gases-act-as-blankets/ Further, right from an on-line AGW Physics textbook... Fundamentals of atmospheric radiation By Craig F. Bohren, Eugene Edmund Clothiaux "....This is yet another reason why assertions about "atmosphere acting like a blanket" are absurd" http://tinyurl.com/lp483t
  21. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Chris - re:your post#49 Funny that you use phrases like this: - "pseudophysics approach combined with false logic" What "pseudophysics" and What "false logic" ??? I am the one providing BACK-UP Links to the Physics to support everything I say. You just provide your "OPINIONS" ! Face the FACTS: - You have not produced ANY argument for my posts based on any Physics! - ALL your posts are just your "opinions" with ZERO Back-up. HAHAHA...you are hilarious!
  22. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Chris - re: your post #46 Here is how the AGW'ers calculate the -18 deg C Earth temperature. - This site uses 5778K for the temperature of the Sun. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_body - The equation relating the Earth temp and Sun temp (with the Earth as a disk) is: TE = TS (((1-a)^0.5 * Rs)/(2*D))^0.5 Where TE is blackbody temp of the Earth in K TS is the surface temp of the SUN in K = 5778 Rs is radius of the Sun = 6.96X10^8 D is distance between the Sun and Earth in m = 1.496X10^11 a is albedo of the Earth = 0.3 Gives TE = 254.90 K or -18.25 deg C ----------------------- If you treat the Earth as a sphere for the Solar Flux you get this equation: TE = TS ( ( (1-a)^0.5 * Rs)/D) ) )^0.5) This will give the temp for Max Solar energy at the Earth's equator...not an average Earth temp. Where TE is blackbody temp of the Earth in K TS is the surface temp of the SUN in K = 5778 Rs is radius of the Sun = 6.96X10^8 D is distance between the Sun and Earth in m = 1.496X10^11 a is albedo of the Earth = 0.3 Result: TE = 360.49 K or 87.34 deg C!! That's the energy that the Ocean can store at the equator and distribute over the Earth by conduction.
  23. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Gord #40, I asked you to explain why the Earth's temperature is warmer than calculated when ignoring the greenhouse effect. It's your turn to answer (and show your work), not mine. You might also want to explain the difference between temperatures of Venus and Earth while you're at it, and the difference between Mercury and Venus too. If you don't like the blanket analogy, go here: http://www.grist.org/article/greenhouse-theory-violates-the-laws-of-thermodynamics But I like the blanket analogy because it shows that increased insulation works to slow the loss of heat from something hot (even though the insulation is cooler than the hot thing).
  24. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    re #45, come on Gord...why not drop the sales patter and just address the rather simple observations (radiative imbalance, accumulation of energy; mountain streams and reservoirs and accumlation of water). You've shown that it's easy to create the impression of confusion by using a pseudophysics approach combined with false logic. We're quite impressed with your abilities there in fact, and if I had one of those "clappy" smiley things you get on some blogs, I'd use it here. However, it's not helpful when talking about simple observations of the effects of perturbations of equilibria with respect to fluxes (radiative; water flows; or biochemical reactions for that matter) to launch into the physics of pendulums (or is it pendula - which sounds rather rude!). You obviously know enough physics to be able to misuse it with alacrity. Very good. But you simply are not going to overturn physical reality with syllogisms... Still, you have managed to hijack an interesting thread, and perhaps that's your aim...
  25. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    O.K Gord, but if you mean "sea surface temperature at the equator", you really shouldn't say: "The Oceans can store energy. They have stored enough energy to heat them up to about +29 deg C." Because the oceans have certainly not stored enough energy to heat them to 29 oC! In any case, you still haven't answered the question of where that thermal energy has come from that has accumulated in the oceans...
  26. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Chris - re: your post #44 You said... "incidentally, I don't think the oceans have stored enough energy to heat them to "about +29 oC". The average ocean temperature is surely more like a few degrees (perhapas 4 oC on average)." Think again. PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY See the Sea Surface Temperature (Mean)(2nd row first graph) for the Ocean temperature at the equator. The mean Sea Surface Temperature IS 29 deg C at the Equator. (If you take the area under the curve with AutoCad the average temp occurs at a 40 deg latitude and the temperature is 18.7 deg C.) http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/geology/hh1996/ocean.html
  27. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    re #42 There's a certain illogic in your assertions about the inability of the climate system to accumulate energy Gord. After all you seem comfortable with the fact that the oceans are rather cosy (at least at the surface at low latitudes). They seem to have a considerably higher temperature (more thermal energy), than they should have based on the earths blackbody temperature under the influence of the solar radiation. The solar flux should give the earth a temperature around 255K. So where has this massive amount of excess thermal energy come from that keeps us so cosy? After all energy can't be created (that would be a violation of the Law of Conservation of Energy!!!!!!). How can that be Gord? Why is our world so cosy? According to your sales patter it can't have accumulated! So what's going on there?
  28. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Chris - re:#43 Look Chris, the fact is that you can't get more energy out of system than is put in. You can only transform potential energy to Kinetic energy and vice-versa. A capactitor in a battery powered electric circuit can store energy but it can't store more energy than what the battery provides...EVER! Another example is A swinging Pendulum. Assume Friction, air pressure etc = 0 1) The pendulum is initally at rest. 2) The pendulum is raised to a height h. 3) The pendulum now has a potential energy PE = mgh (where m = mass, g = acceleration due to gravity and h = height) 4) The pendulum is released and some Potential Energy (PE) is converted to Kinetic Energy (KE) and the pendulum starts moving. 5) The pendulum will complete it's swing and be at height h again. It's Potential Energy it started out with = the Potential Energy it finished with and energy has been conserved. 6) But, as the pendulum swings, at each and every point of its swing energy is conserved. PE + KE = mgh. Do you see what I mean? There cannot be a violation of conservation of energy AT ANY POINT during it's swing! The analogy with the Energy Budget diagrams is pretty obvious. The Solar Radiation IN = Radiation OUT at the TOA is equivalent to the iniital h = final h which complies with Conservation of Energy. But, what the Energy Budget diagrams show is a complete violation of conservation of energy between these two points! The ONLY energy available for the pendulum comes from lifting it to height h. This produces PE = mgh of energy and that is ALL the energy available. As the pendulum swings it is converting PE to KE thus reducing PE, but PE + KE = mgh ALWAYS applies. It is IMPOSSIBLE for PE or KE to EXCEED mgh! In the case of the in-coming Solar energy at the TOA = 342 w/m^2 this is the ONLY energy available just like mgh is for the pendulum. Nothing below the TOA can EVER EXCEED 342 w/m^2. Now, as the 342 w/m^2 propagates toward the Earth, it loses some energy due to atmospheric absorbtion (67 w/m^2) leaving 275 w/m^2 available for use. This is just like the pendulum converting some of it's energy to KE leaving mgh - KE available for use. The 275 w/m^2 is further reduced because 107 w/m^2 is reflected leaving 168 w/m^2 to be absorbed by the Earth's surface. That's ALL the energy that was left, yet the Earth radiates 390 w/m^2 ! This is even MORE energy than the 342 w/m^2....the ONLY energy available at the start! In fact it is 1.14 times the energy we started with. In the pendulum analogy it would be like saying PE + KE = 1.14 X mgh, an obvious violation of the Law of Conservation of Energy!
  29. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    incidentally, I don't think the oceans have stored enough energy to heat them to "about +29 oC". The average ocean temperature is surely more like a few degrees (perhapas 4 oC on average).
  30. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    The extra water in the reservoir, Gord, which accumulates when the cross section of the outflow pipe is reduced. This water wasn't created. It accumulated. Rather like the accumulation of thermal energy in the climate system (oceans, surface, atmosphere) under the influence of positive radiative imbalance. Just as the flux of the mountain stream is "ALL the water you have", so the solar radiation is the flux of all the energy you have. However under an imbalance (radiative in the case of the greenhouse effect; frictional in the case of the reduced cross-section of the outflow, combined with water surface tension), there is a temporary drop in the flow out of the system (climate system, or reservoir in the case of the anology) and a build up of thermal energy (in the climate system) or water mass (in the reservoir), until a "pressure" (thermal or real pressure!) is achieved that allows a rebalancing of the in and outflows. It's not rocket science Gord...it's extremely basic physics. I really don't think you're going to sell any notions here about overturning laws of thermodynamics! Physical laws cannot be countered by semantic mangling and syllogisms...
  31. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Chris - re:your post #41 Chris, see my post #27 The Oceans can store energy. They have stored enough energy to heat them up to about +29 deg C, and the average temp (at a 40 deg lat.) is about +19 deg C. The Atmosphere has only stored enough energy to heat it up to -20 deg C! That's IT! You can't "accumulate" MORE Energy than what is available ! It's not "dodgy logic"....it is a FACT!...AND A LAW OF SCIENCE! ---------------------- Re: your mountain stream. The water coming down the Mountain Stream is ALL the water you have! You can Reduce the flow of water...that's all. What "extra water" are you talking about?
  32. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    #38 Not really Gord. The fact that the earth's temperature rises under the influence of an enhanced greenhouse effect requires neither a violation of the 2nd law (since the radiation of the atmosphere slows down the rate of energy dissipation from the surface without requiring a flow of heat from a cold atmosphere to a warmer surface), nor the "creation of energy". The temporary slow down in the dissipation of thermal energy from the surface results in the accumulation of energy in the climate system (atmosphere, surface, oceans), until the elements of the system warm up sufficiently to re-establish equilibrium between solar radiation and dissipated radiation to space. So energy accumulates. Let's not pretend that you can overturn the laws of physics by dodgy logic and semantic confusion Gord! You like analogies, so here's one: Water flows down from a mountain stream to fill a reservoir, further flow from which occurs from an opening in the dam below the surface of the water. The flow of the stream is constant and an equilibrium situation is reached where inflow and outflow through a narrow cross section pipe is balanced and the reservoir level is constant. Now we reduce the cross sectional area of the outflow even further. The volume of water in the reservoir increases somewhat until a pressure is reached such that a new equilibrium is achieved, with inflow balanced by outflow. Where did that extra water come from? Was it "created"accumulated. It accumulated until a sufficient pressure was reached that the outflow again became equal to the inflow.
  33. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Steve....re:Your Post #37 Yes, the Blanket traps warm air between the body and blanket....it DOES NOT INCREASE THE TEMPERATURE OF THE BODY! The body DROPPED in temperature from +33 deg C to +28 deg C !...because the Body supplied energy to heat the blanket up! Just like the 2nd Law says will happen. The Atmosphere as a Blanket is foolish because the Blanket is -20 deg C ! Wrap that blanket around your +33 deg C body and see how much it heats you up! ------------------ Likewise, wrap a -20 deg Atmospheric Blanket around a -18 deg C Earth and just like the human body DROPPED in temperature from +33 deg C to +28 deg C, the Earth's temperature will DROP !.....not increase in temperature by 33 deg C to a whopping +15 deg C! It's called a violation of the 2nd Law and it requires Creation of Energy...a violation of The Law of Conservation of Energy! --------------------- Please explain how atmospheric CO2 (the atmosphere has a -20 deg C average temp) can cause the Earth's temperature of -18 deg C (caused by the SUN, the ONLY ENERGY SOURCE) to heat up by a whopping 33 deg C to +15 deg C? Please supply your explaination along with the Laws of Science that support your answer. Good Luck!
  34. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Thanks be to Gord!
  35. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Chris - re:your post #25 Chris said... "The pertinent point is that a body radiating thermal energy in the path of a hotter body will slow down the rate of loss of heat from the warmer body, even if it is cooler." Wrong. Radiating thermal energy is accomplished by Propagating Electromagnetic Fields. Electromagnetic Fields are Vector Fields and they travel at the speed of light. The warmer Earth radiates 390 w/m^2 and heats up the atmosphere to -20 deg C. The atmosphere radiates 324 w/m^2 in all directions. Between the Earth and Atmosphere the resultant EM field is (390-324) 66 w/m^2 in an upward direction. Past the atmosphere the Resultant EM field is 66 w/m^2 PLUS 324 w/m^2 for a total of 390 w/m^2 in an upward direction to cold space. ALL the 390 w/m^2 radiated by the Earth is radiated to cold space. There is no "slow down the rate of loss of heat". ------- Chris said... "The surface (and atmosphere) must warm to "pump up" the temperature such that thermal energy is dissipated at the same rate as solar energy impacts at the top of the atmosphere...thus equilibrium is re-established in a greenhouse-warmed earth... " Wrong. The Solar Energy available to heat the Earth is just 168 w/m^2.....that's ALL the Energy Available. The Earth can't "pump up" it's energy to 390 w/m^2 and the Atmosphere can't "pump up" it's energy to 324 w/m^2 !! Your "Pumping Up" is called "Creation Of Energy"....A violation of The Law of Conservation of Energy!
  36. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Very good Gord, now explain what happens next after the blanket is applied! The body loses heat slower! Wow. Who knew? For your next trick, calculate the temperature of the Earth from its size and its interception of solar radiation. Then compare that to the empirically measured temperature. Oh, what do you know -- that's already done for you on the wikipedia page you referenced. Maybe you should try to explain the discrepancy.
  37. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Ned - re: your post #32 Ned said... "Your idea ("describing energy 'coming back to the surface from CO2' as reflected or retained through a standing wave") is well-intentioned but also not very useful. Nothing is being reflected here, and there's no "standing wave"." Wrong. Blackbody Radiation "Blackbody radiation" or "cavity radiation" refers to an object or system which absorbs all radiation incident upon it and re-radiates energy which is characteristic of this radiating system only, not dependent upon the type of radiation which is incident upon it." The radiated energy can be considered to be produced by standing wave or resonant modes of the cavity which is radiating." http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/mod6.html#c1 -------------------------- Do you even realize that common 'interference' patterns produced by interacting EM waves is entirely explained by use of vector analysis and superposition?
  38. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Ned.... Let’s test your claim that Heat can flow from Cold to Hot with a simple heat transfer calculation. Example: Two bodies of different temperature 1) Assume the emissivity e = 1 for each of the two bodies and their thermal time constant is 0 (instantaneous). 2) Boltzmans Constant (BC)= 5.67 X 10^-8 3) Assume the Warmer body has a temp of T = 100 deg K. and is kept at this temperature by a constant energy source emitting 5.67 watts/m^2. The warmer body will also radiate an electromagnetic field of BC *(100^4)= 5.67 Watts/m^2 4) Assume the Cooler body has a temp of Tc = 50 deg K It will radiate an electromagnetic field of BC *(50^4)= 0.35 Watts/m^2 Now the resultant field between the two bodies is 5.67 – 0.35 = 5.32 Watts/m^2. The direction of the field is towards the cooler body. Notice that none of the radiation from the cooler body reached the warmer body and the warmer body remains at 100 deg. K. This conforms with the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics since the warmer body is not “heated” by the colder body. Now, the colder body is receiving 5.32 Watts/m^2 from the resultant field, which it will absorb and increase in temperature. Once the colder body absorbs the 5.32 Watts/m^2 it will radiate the 5.32 Watts/m^2 PLUS the 0.35 Watts/m^2 it was already radiating = 5.67 Watts/m^2. So this means the colder body has warmed to 100 deg K and the two bodies are at the same temperature….and equilibrim is achieved. Now that both bodies are at 100 deg K and each will radiate 5.67 Watts/m^2. The resultant field between them is 5.67 – 5.67 = 0 Watts/m^2 so there is there is no energy transfer between them and they will remain at 100 deg. K. If the energy source is removed, both bodies will now cool at the same rate. If the energy source is increased, both bodies will now warm at the same rate. —- Now let’s see YOUR calculations with energy flowing from the colder body to the hotter body. Do the calculations until thermal equilibrium is achieved. Remember that there is ONLY one energy source emitting 5.67 watts/m^2 and the Law of Conservation of Energy says “Energy cannot be created or destroyed”. GOOD LUCK!
  39. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Steve... What really happens WITH BLANKETS: Radiation emitted by a human body "The total surface area of an adult is about 2 m², and the mid- and far-infrared emissivity of skin and most clothing is near unity, as it is for most nonmetallic surfaces.Skin temperature is about 33 deg C, but clothing reduces the surface temperature to about 28 deg C when the ambient temperature is 20 deg C. Hence, the net radiative heat loss is about Pnet = 100 W." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_body So putting a colder blanket (20 deg C) on a warm Body (33 deg C) REDUCES the Body surface temp to 28 deg C!! Gee, looks like heat flowed from the WARMER Body to HEAT the blanket up! Just like the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics says...(Heat flows from warm objects to colder objects)!
  40. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    RSVP - The answer to your question is that the Radio Transmitter produces a LARGER Electromagnetic Field than your warm kitchen. Review my Post# 18 when I reported the results of the Parbolic Mirror Solar Ovens used to transfer heat energy from the warmer water at it's focal point to a colder atmosphere. The Parbolic Mirror is used as a TRANSMITTING ANTENNA just like Parabolic Dishes are used to RECEIVE satellite signals from a Satellite in cold space or TRANSMIT signals to the Satellite. Parabolic reflector A parabolic reflector (or dish or mirror) is a reflective device used to collect or project energy such as light, sound, or radio waves. Its shape is that of a circular paraboloid, that is, the surface generated by a parabola revolving around its axis. The parabolic reflector transforms an incoming plane wave traveling along the axis into a spherical wave converging toward the focus. Conversely, a spherical wave generated by a point source placed in the focus is transformed into a plane wave propagating as a collimated beam along the axis. Parabolic reflectors are used to collect energy from a distant source (for example sound waves or incoming star light) and bring it to a common focal point[1], thus correcting spherical aberration found in simpler spherical reflectors. Since the principles of reflection are reversible, parabolic reflectors can also be used to project energy of a source at its focus outward in a parallel beam[2], used in devices such as spotlights and car headlights. The most common modern applications of the parabolic reflector are in satellite dishes, reflecting telescopes, radio telescopes, parabolic microphones, and many lighting devices such as spotlights, car headlights, PAR Cans and LED housings." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parabolic_reflector -------------------- Electromagnetic radiation "Electromagnetic radiation (sometimes abbreviated EMR) takes the form of self-propagating waves in a vacuum or in matter. EM radiation has an electric and magnetic field component which oscillate in phase perpendicular to each other and to the direction of energy propagation. Electromagnetic radiation is classified into types according to the frequency of the wave, these types include (in order of increasing frequency): radio waves, microwaves, terahertz radiation, infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays and gamma rays. Of these, radio waves have the longest wavelengths and Gamma rays have the shortest." "Electric and magnetic fields do obey the properties of superposition, so fields due to particular particles or time-varying electric or magnetic fields contribute to the fields due to other causes. (As these fields are vector fields, all magnetic and electric field vectors add together according to vector addition" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_radiation ---------- "Power Density and Radiated Power The Poynting Vector P is defined as: P(vector) = (1/2) E(vector) X H(vector) which is a power density with units of W/m2. Figure 4.1.3 The w/m2 Varies with Position on the Surface of a Sphere "n = unit normal directed outward from the surface." "We now continue to calculate the total radiated power from an antenna. It is the number of watts per square meter that happens to be at a given point and the direction of the vector is the direction of the power flow." http://www.engr.psu.edu/cde/courses/ee497c/M4L1.pdf
  41. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    RSVP writes: "Ned, It seems like the point Gord is making could be resolved by describing energy "coming back to the surface from CO2" as reflected or retained through a standing wave. A mirror reflecting heat does not warm. In this case, something more like a one way mirror. No?" No, with all due respect there's no way to salvage anything meaningful from Gord's inappropriate attempt to use thermodynamics. It's really just plain wrong. Your idea ("describing energy 'coming back to the surface from CO2' as reflected or retained through a standing wave") is well-intentioned but also not very useful. Nothing is being reflected here, and there's no "standing wave". Longwave IR emitted by the surface is partially absorbed by the atmosphere. This warms the atmosphere, which in turn emits more IR in both the upward and downward directions. The radiation emitted upwards escapes to space, keeping the planet in radiative balance. The radiation emitted downward contributes (slightly) to warming the surface.
  42. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Gord, I'm not going to waste my time reading your long and overly capitalized posts. Scanning a couple of them I think I got the gist and I recommend you go to any number of places and find your claims debunked. Or ask yourself: "when cold at night and pulling a blanket over myself, I get warmer -- but the blanket never gets as warm as my body, so how can this be?"
  43. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    To Gord According to the blank statement, "Energy can only flow from Hot to Cold objects". How then can a radio signal (energy) in my nice warm kitchen pick up a radio signal from the transmitter antenna of a freezing mountain peak? The question is rhetorical in order to illustrate that things are not always that simple, and blank statements may be a little incomplete in their descriptions. (In this case, neither antenna is the source or the load in the system, but only act as pathways for channeling energy.)
  44. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    re #27 Again, your attempt to "dsprove" planetary thermodynamics by a form of Aristotelian syllogism is based on a semantic mangling of "heat" and "radiation", Gord (see my post just above). You're right that the atmosphere doesn't heat the water (you don't even need shouty capital letters to transmit that truism). However the atmosphere does suppress the radiative loss of energy from the oceans to space. So the rate of loss of thermal energy is suppressed by a warmer atmosphere. The oceans are warmer than they would otherwise have been without the "thermal blanket" (!) of the atmosphere radiating downwards. However you can be happy and proud that this very basic truism certainly doesn't disobey the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. Despite the suppression of the radiative loss of thermal energy from the oceans by the atmosphere, the nett flow of radiation (i.e. heat) is from the oceans to the atmosphere. Everyone is happy Gord! The natural world really does make sense.....
  45. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Chris - Chris said... "You're mixing up heat and radiation Gord, and so you're silly attempt to disprove basic planetary thermodynamics is based on a semantic mangling. A body radiates electromagnetic radiation (largely in the UV/vis/IR region of the EM spectrum) according to its temperature. That occurs independently of the temperature of any other object in its vicinity." Each object will radiate according to it's temperature. (Stefan-Boltzmann Law). Electromagnetic Fields produced by EACH object will INTERACT. (Heat Transfer Physics) Thus we get the Equation: P/A = e*BC*T^4 – e*BC*Tc^4 (Watts/m^2) This is an obvious subtraction of two Electromagnetic Fields !!! It also complies with the Vector subtraction of Electromagnetic Fields which are Vectors !!! The resultant Electromagnetic Field will have a magnitude of P/A and have a direction of propagation in the direction of the larger field. There CAN ONLY BE ONE RESULTANT ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD VECTOR !!! There is absolutely no energy flow from cold to hot, complying with the 2nd Law. --------------- There is NO "NET" transfer with some heat energy flowing from cold to hot! The 2nd Law says "IT IS NOT POSSIBLE for heat to flow from a colder body to a warmer body without any work having been done to accomplish this flow." If ANY heat energy flowed from Cold to Hot it would result in a VIOLATION of the Law of Conservation of Energy !!! (see my Clear Light Bulb example in my post #22) (see my "Greenhouse Effect" links example in my post #17) ------------------ This "cartoon" illustrates the "physics" behind heat flow from cold to hot. The only difference is that CO2 is not "reflective" it is a good absorber of IR but the Radiation back to the Chicken would be the same . The principle is still the same and more importantly, the Result would be the same. Free Energy Oven Based on the latest Climate Modeling Technology developed at NASA "Interior has a mirror finish which reflects black body radiated heat back to the chicken, increasing its temperature. Warmer chicken will then re-radiate more infrared energy to the reflecting surfaces with additional heating occurring in a rapid cascade effect. Chicken must be above absolute zero when initially started. (Warning: observe temperature rise carefully and remove when internal temperature reaches 185 degrees). No power required. UN IPCC approved. Chicken not included." http://www.ilovemycarbondioxide.com/ipcc_oven.html The source of heat energy only has to be above "absolute zero", the infinite energy CREATED will come about because of energy flowing from cold to hot.
  46. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    RSVP.... Storage of energy is done by the Oceans. The storage of energy is a result of heat transfer by conduction to colder water. The Oceans, because of their Thermal Time Constant, will take about 800 years to fully reflect the surface temperatures. The mean Ocean temperature at the equator is about +29 deg C, and the average temp (at a 40 deg lat.) is about +19 deg C. PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY See the Sea Surface Temperature (Mean)(2nd row first graph) for the Ocean temperature at the equator. (If you take the area under the curve with AutoCad the average temp occurs at a 40 deg latitude and the temperature is 18.7 deg C.) http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/geology/hh1996/ocean.html ALL the energy released by the Oceans to the atmosphere is by conduction, convection and radiation. The energy released is determined by the OCEAN TEMPERATURES! The atmosphere is no different except that the ATMOSPHERE has only STORED ENOUGH ENERGY TO HEAT IT TO AN AVERAGE OF -20 DEG C ! The Oceans can heat the atmosphere but the atmosphere CANNOT heat the VERY MUCH WARMER Oceans or a Warmer Land Mass! The colder atmosphere does not "trap" heat energy and it CANNOT heat a warmer Earth. The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics basically states that "Energy can only flow from Hot to Cold objects". AGW theory relies on heat flowing from a colder atmosphere (-20 deg C average) to a warmer Earth (+15 deg C) and heating it. This is an obvious violation of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. ---------------------- Only the Oceans can store heat energy. The current Ocean temperature was caused by the Medieval Warm period. This is just like putting a large pot of water (Ocean) on a stove burner (Sun). As the water temperature rises it will heat the air (atmosphere) above the pot. The hot water heated by the SUN heated the atmosphere...the atmosphere DID NOT heat the water! You have to get Cause and Effect right!
  47. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    Ned, It seems like the point Gord is making could be resolved by describing energy "coming back to the surface from CO2" as reflected or retained through a standing wave. A mirror reflecting heat does not warm. In this case, something more like a one way mirror. No?
  48. Volcanoes emit more CO2 than humans
    In my comment 237 I wrote the heat from the interior would have increased by only 0.18w/m^2. Wrong. The increase would be only 0.09--even smaller compared to the forcing from CO2.
  49. Working out climate sensitivity
    I don't think that's quite right RSVP. If you read the early sections of the review under discussion (Knutti and Hegerl, 2008), the authors make it clear up front that the climate sensitivity is broadly independent of its source. They state:
    Anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases, aerosol precursors and other substances, as well as natural changes in solar irradiance and volcanic eruptions, affect the amount of radiation that is reflected, transmitted and absorbed by the atmosphere. This externally imposed (naturally or human-induced) energy imbalance on the system, such as the increased long-wave absorption caused by the emission of anthropogenic CO2, is termed radiative forcing (F). In a simple global energy balance model, the difference between these (positive) radiative perturbations F and the increased outgoing long-wave radiation that is assumed to be proportional to the surface warming T leads to an increased heat flux Q in the system, such that...
    As I said above, there are hundreds of papers that describe the ongoing efforts to refine the specific contributions (parameterizations) of each of the forcings. Since there are examples of these in recent threads on this site, anyone who posts here should be aware of the fact that all of the sources of radiative forcings are considered in attribution of contributions to historical and contemporary warming. Scientific papers cannot be expected to regurgitate the entirety of a subject as background, although the work should be placed in context...a certain amount knowledge and undersanding is always assumed. One has to try to be aware of the broader subject when assessing every piece of science...
  50. CO2 is not the only driver of climate
    re #22 You're mixing up heat and radiation Gord, and so you're silly attempt to disprove basic planetary thermodynamics is based on a semantic mangling. A body radiates electromagnetic radiation (largely in the UV/vis/IR region of the EM spectrum) according to its temperature. That occurs independently of the temperature of any other object in its vicinity. So a cooler body will radiate energy towards a warmer body. Obviously, heat which can be defined as the nett flow of thermal energy, can only pass spontaneously from a warmer to a cooler body, and not in the other direction. The pertinent point is that a body radiating thermal energy in the path of a hotter body will slow down the rate of loss of heat from the warmer body, even if it is cooler. This obviously doesn't violate the 2nd law of thermodynamics. Going back to the earth surface/atmosphere. The surface loses thermal energy by radiation of longwave IR towards space. The atmosphere, a cooler body, reradiates some of this energy back to earth slowing the net flow of thermal energy from the suface to space. This obviously doesn't disobey the 2nd law of thermodynamics since heat which is the nett flow of thermal energy, flows from the warmer (earth surface) to cooler (atmosphere) body. As one makes the atmosphere warmer, by increasing its absorption of long wave IR (by increasing the greenhouse gas concentration), so the rate of radiative heat loss from the surface is decreased. The surface (and atmosphere) must warm to "pump up" the temperature such that thermal energy is dissipated at the same rate as solar energy impacts at the top of the atmosphere...thus equilibrium is re-established in a greenhouse-warmed earth...

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