Re: Gobal Warming Hoax! and CO2 a twist

["John Fleck" <jfleck@abqjournal.com>]

----- Original Message ----- 

From: <daleboyce@charter.net>

To: <radsafe@list.Vanderbilt.Edu>

Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2004 4:26 PM

Subject: Re: Gobal Warming Hoax! and CO2 a twist





> Radsafers,

>

> How many of you are aware that the CO2 absortion band in the infrared is

> essentially saturated when looking at earth from space?  Show of hands?

That

> is when a spacecraft looks a I.R. radiating from the earth there is

> essentially nothing in the wavelength that CO2 absorbs.  The result is a

> large change in CO2 has a small change in the heat retained by the earth's

> atmosphere.  There is some increase due to the tails in the absorption

peak,

> but it is far from proportional..Also, it has probably been the case since

> the beginning of the industrial revolution.

>



The science here[1]:



*************

"It has been suggested that the absorption by CO2 is already saturated so

that an increase would have no effect. This, however, is not the case.

Carbon dioxide absorbs infrared radiation in the middle of its 15 mm band to

the extent that radiation in the middle of this band cannot escape

unimpeded: this absorption is saturated. This, however, is not the case for

the band's wings. It is because of these effects of partial saturation that

the radiative forcing is not proportional to the increase in the carbon

dioxide concentration but shows a logarithmic dependence. Every further

doubling adds an additional 4 Wm-2 to the radiative forcing."

*************



That's why CO2 matters. You'll note that the IPCC's lengthy discussion of

relative opacity at various wavelengths associated with various trace

greenhouse gases quite thoroughly addresses the misunderstanding you're

alleging. To suggest "a lack of understanding in the science community in

general" might be correct with respect to the sort of non-climate scientists

who have been weighing in so enthusiastically and knowledgeably in this

thread, but the climate researchers themselves seem to have already thought

the issue through with some care.



Cheers,

John



[1] http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/044.htm



************************************************************************

You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To

unsubscribe, send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu  Put the

text "unsubscribe radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail,

with no subject line. You can view the Radsafe archives at

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/