Wisdom of the Common Man

Part 1 of this series explored the physical aspect of heat (photons), that are either absorbed or emitted by atoms/molecules. We determined there are two modes of photon transfer within the earth’s climate system: conduction (penetration of heat from the earth’s surface to layers beneath the surface) and conduction/radiation (loss of heat from earth’s surface through the atmosphere when cooling). How photons assist photosynthesis and help control water vapor, climate basic #2). Let’s begin:

What is Heat? Part 2

Note: Part 2 will only discuss heat’s impact on land surfaces. How heat affects the ocean is very different and deserves its own treatise.

Scientists have quantified the heat (photons) received from the sun at Top of Atmosphere (TOA). The accepted value is approximately 1368 W/M². Reduced by 0.3 for atmospheric reflection leaves 958 W/M². To partition how much reaches the earth’s surface, 958/4 = 239 W/M². This is a paraphrased version! Using 4(pi)r² to spread solar insolation across the entire earth is just plain wrong. Solar insolation covers one half of the earth’s surface!

I suppose satellites can measure heat at TOA, but the other numbers are gross estimates, impossible to measure, much less calculate. Ask a scientist to quantify anything and he/she will. If you believe scientists to be infallible you will accept their answer as fact. Don’t get me wrong, science has improved our lives with amazing discoveries. However, climate scientists, trying to quantify heat movement from TOA through the atmosphere to earth, and from the earth through the atmosphere to TOA is impossible. Then to use their hypotheses for predicting future climate, again impossible.

More on this subject later, back to “What is Heat”.

Heat from TOA to earth’s surface: Solar insolation by wavelength: Infrared – 50%, Visible – 40%, Ultraviolet – 10% (percentages are approximate numbers from Wikipedia articles). This is what happens during the day, on the side of earth facing the sun.When we talk about incoming solar insolation from the sun, there are two completely different scenarios: 1) Clear Sky 2) Cloudy Sky. I briefly mention”cloudy sky” below but will avoid a complete discussion at this time to avoid confusion. Clear sky is more straightforward.

 Ultraviolet spectrum: Let’s get ultraviolet out of the way. The majority of ultraviolet is filtered by conversion of O₂ to O₃ (ozone) in the stratosphere (simplified explanation). That’s fantastic because too much UV damages our eyes and skin. Ultraviolet wavelengths also carry more heat than visible or infrared but since most are filtered out, contribute little to earth’s heat.

Visible spectrum: The 30% reflected heat is mostly the visible spectrum. The visible spectrum is quite narrow compared to infrared but carries more heat. Virtually every climate science paper claims the visible spectrum is not absorbed by the atmosphere. We have an atmosphere all around us, that seems to have no effect on visible light. The available heat at the surface is more dramatic for “clear sky” conditions. “Cloudy skies” cool things down considerably when reflection by clouds blocks visible light, and the clouds absorb infrared. The visible spectrum has three important functions 1) Light for vision. There’s a large amount of visible light around us, providing little heat energy. 2) Providing heat energy to earth’s surface. Presumably a portion of the visible spectrum heats the earth. I posit that measuring the balance between heat and vision is impossible. 3) Part of the visible spectrum is used for photosynthesis by plants. Since plants are the greatest heat modulator on land, visible light plays a crucial role in maintaining terrestrial temperature, and deforestation and land use are by far the major human impact on regional climate.

Infrared spectrum: “Sunlight, at an effective temperature of 5,780 kelvins (5,510 °C, 9,940 °F), is composed of near-thermal-spectrum radiation that is slightly more than half infrared. At zenith, sunlight provides an irradiance of just over 1 kilowatt per square meter at sea level. Of this energy, 527 watts is infrared radiation, 445 watts is visible light, and 32 watts is ultraviolet radiation. Nearly all the infrared radiation in sunlight is near infrared, shorter than 4 micrometers.” (Wikipedia “Infrared”) I can’t agree or disagree with the values presented, take them with a grain of salt.

Incoming infrared heats the atmosphere on its way to earth. There is absolutely no way to quantify the balance of absorption between atmospheric elements! Climate scientists think they can, but sorry, impossible. Infrared is absorbed and emitted by H₂O and CO₂. However, H₂O has two powerful heat absorbing atoms of hydrogen, with a much wider IR absorption band, and even overlaps with CO₂. Water vapor carries latent heat to the atmosphere from ocean and land. During ascension to cloud formation, water vapor adds more IR heat from sun and earth. The heat is released upon condensation, never “trapped”. There are on average 75 to 100x more water vapor molecules in the atmosphere than CO₂ molecules.

Carbon dioxide contains one carbon atom which absorbs and emits according to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Contrary to popular belief, CO₂ doesn’t “trap” heat! It absorbs and emits photons, does not trap them. Climate science modelers wrongly use Radiative Forcing (RF) and theoretical Back Radiation to elevate the power of CO₂. Carbon dioxide, acting as an individual molecule, absorbs photons from sun and earth and emits photons following the Second Law of Thermodynamics, hot to cold.

Heat from earths’ surface to space: Heat from the sun changes for a fixed location on earth during the day. Cool in the morning to peak heat at approximately 4 pm. That location will begin to cool when heat from the sun falls below the temperature of earths’ surface. Then the surface will start to release infrared heat to space, through the atmosphere. At sundown the temperature will drop rapidly since the surface layer releases sensible heat quickly in the form of infrared radiation. The rapid temperature drop is proof that only a small amount of heat is absorbed by the atmosphere, the rest escapes to space. The continual evaporation of water vapor cools the earth and adds latent heat to the atmosphere. The latent heat carried to the atmosphere at night will be the same as the surface it evaporates from.

     Absorption Bands of H₂O & CO₂

After the primary surface heat is gone, we revert to a combination of conductive heat transfer from beneath the surface (slow) and continued radiation from the surface. This heat loss will continue until the heat source (sun) returns. We know that speed of evaporation is controlled by heat, therefore night-time evaporation is slower and transpiration by plants cease. Most serious cloud formation happens at night when the cooler upper atmosphere condenses water vapor. During the night it is water vapor that slows temperature change. “Diurnal Air Temperature Variation” is absolute proof that water vapor controls atmospheric temperature! What role does carbon dioxide play, zero! Carbon dioxide is scattered throughout the atmosphere and completely enveloped by water vapor!

This concludes Part 2. Part 3 will deal with how the day/night cycle affects the ocean, which is the key to our overall climate system.

Author: 7_Sages

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