Thoughts on carbon dioxide and the climate

It is a scientific fact that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases play an important role in the radiative equilibrium of the planet. It's not a matter of scientific dispute.

Carbon dioxide and other greenhouses gases have known and measurable physical properties that influence the Earth's radiative balance. The greenhouse gases are those that have the unique property of being transparent to visible and ultraviolet frequencies, while absorbing strongly in infrared frequencies. This is what is meant by greenhouse gases. It is not a matter of scientific dispute.

Incoming radiation from the sun is mostly in the visible frequencies. Radiation from the sun warms the Earth, which then reradiates energy in infrared frequencies. Greenhouse gases prevent the radiation emitted by the Earth's surface from escaping freely to space and cause the Earth to be much warmer than it would otherwise be without their presence. This is what is known as the "greenhouse effect" and it is not a matter of scientific dispute.

The overall, equilibrium temperature of the Earth is determined by these factors; the amount of incoming radiation, the planetary albedo, and the transmissivity/emmissivity of the atmosphere. This is basic physical science and is not a matter of scientific dispute.

The Earths atmosphere (and oceans) are stratified into layers of varying temperature and composition. The temperature in any particular layer, as at the Earth's surface, is determined by interactions with the adjoining layers. The predominate mode of heat transfer, i.e. by conduction, convection, or radiation, varies from layer to layer and determines the equilibrium temperature for that layer.

The questions and uncertainties that exist among scientists who study atmospheric science and climatology do not revolve among these fundamental understandings. The fact that carbon dioxide absorbs infrared energy has been known and quantitatively measured since the 1860s. Its role in determining the Earth's temperature has been known since the early 1900s.

It is an indisputable fact that atmospheric carbon dioxide has a warming effect on the Earth's temperature. This is not disputed by any climate scientist alive today. The range of uncertainty that exists in predicting the rise in mean, global surface temperature that will result from the rapid increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is due to a number of reasons; but a denial of the fundamental physics of how bodies in space radiate heat and the absorption properties of carbon dioxide are not among those reasons.

These scientific questions were obscure and of interest to only a small community of scientists until roughly the 1960s, when it was observed by a growing number of scientists that the consequences of their understanding of the effects of the rapid build-up of carbon dioxide held serious consequences for the planet at large.

In recent years as a growing recognition of the gravity of the situation has led to calls for action to address the problem, the science itself has come under intense opposition from many quarters. In the hyper-partisan United States in particular, opposition has led the public in large numbers to believe such things as; the idea of anthropogenic climate change was invented by (former vice-president) Al Gore, the work of climatologists in America's leading science institutions and around the world is a hoax based on a political agenda, and that major disagreements exist in the community of atmospheric scientists, geophysicists, and climatologists over the fundamentals of climate science. None of these things are true.

I don't know what else to say. People believe what they want to believe.

Less than 2% say there is no Anthropogenic Climate Change (ACC). Less than 2% are unsure. But 96%+ is pretty fucking certain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_opinion_on_climate_change

Last remaining scientific body dissenting on ACC was the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. As of 2007 they no longer outright dissent, and their position statement does seem noncommittal. However, they do acknowledge that humans have put more CO2 and GGH into the atmosphere.

http://dpa.aapg.org/gac/statements/climatechange.cfm

Anthropogenic Climate Change is among the most correct of thoughts that has ever been thunk.

among climate scientists; i.e., how bodies in space radiate heat, the physical properties of gases, etc. Hard though I've tried, I still can't grasp how the radiative transfer models are set up to model the transfer of energy up through each layer in the atmospheric column. I only understand the process in a simplified way. Climate scientists may dispute some of the uncertainties in the models, or the rate of heating, or the range of the IPCC estimate, but they don't dispute the basic processes.

Obviously, atmospheric science and climatology is not the main concern of The American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

:kick:

great site, ty