Explanation of Molelcules and Heat.

All media stories on this subject indicate that each molecule of carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere is heat added to the planet. The science is infinitely more complex than that.

In fact, this assumption differentiates alarmist scientists from their critics. In other words, the basis of all alarmist assumptions is that heat is additive. If another molecule of CO2 exists, it will add heat to the planet.

The simple-minded reductionism of that assumption is stunning. Everything absorbs radiation. It doesn't create heat. Heat comes from sources and goes someplace. The molecules in between are not the primary determiners of the result. It's the sources and dissipation that determine heat increase.

In other words, so-called greenhouse gases are mediums for moving heat from one location to another. Moving heat around is not an increase in heat.

Of course, the underlying assumption is that radiation which is prevented from going into space is heat which increases on the planet. This is the restriction concept—restrict the energy going out, and more energy stays in. "Greenhouse" and "heat trapping" mean restricted outflow.

Restriction does not apply to the atmosphere. If it did, the result would be extremely erratic—like trying to fill a container at the same rate it leaks. Sometimes, the net amount would be increasing, and sometimes it would be decreasing. Only a regulation process holds the level constant. Restriction is not a regulation process.

The complexities of nature create regulation processes, as interactions equilibrate. It's impossible for large scale complexities to not equilibrate. The temperature of the atmosphere equilibrates due to radiation causing cooling, while cooling reduces radiation. The result causes the same amount of radiation to leave as that which enters.

When faced with this criticism, the more sophisticated alarmists say equilibrium temperature is shifted upward by greenhouse gases. Supposedly, the effect occurs about 9 km up and gets higher with increased CO2 resulting in colder temperatures where the radiation is emitted into space.

The supposed shift of equilibrium temperature upward ignores/contradicts the fact that most of the radiation leaving the planet leaves from lower levels in the atmosphere, as depicted with this image and indicated by the NASA energy budget. To say the equilibrium temperature shifts upward is to defy the fact that radiation leaving from lower levels of the atmosphere controls the equilibrium temperature. Where most of the radiation leaves is where the equilibrating will occur. In fact, it will not be proportioned; where radiation leaves the most readily will override influences which are more restricted.

To understand the complexities, the simple science needs to be reviewed.

The radiation given off by all matter is called black body radiation. It is a very wide band of infrared radiation. This means it is longer wavelength than visible light. Visible light covers the wavelengths of 0.2-0.8 micro meters (microns). Black body radiation covers 1-100 microns.

When radiation strikes a molecule of CO2, only three narrow bands are absorbed, which is called fingerprint radiation. This drawing shows the relationships.

The reason why all matter emits black body radiation is because vibrating molecules create waves. Whole molecules vibrate at various frequencies depending upon how they bump into each other. Molecules in the sun vibrate very rapidly due to increased temperature, so they emit higher frequency waves. Higher frequency means shorter wavelength.

Absorption is different than emission. It is primarily electrons which do the absorbing, while nuclei do the emitting. Electrons can only absorb narrow bands of radiation, because the frequency must be just right, so the electron gets bumped on the same side of its orbit each time. If the frequency is wrong, the electron gets bumped on both sides of its orbit, and one side cancels the other.

This means fingerprint radiation finds an electron which orbits at just the right frequency to absorb the radiation. Different electrons will have different orbits, so there is more than one band for fingerprint radiation.

When an electron absorbs radiation, it moves faster, and its orbit deforms. The deformation of the electron orbit pulls the nucleus with it causing the nucleus to vibrate faster, which is an increase in heat. Heat is the velocity of vibration of a molecule.

Notice this important point: The deformation of the electron orbit occurs with each bump from a wave of radiation, and the nucleus is pulled with the deformed orbit. This means heat is created as fast as the electron makes a partial orbit. So the conversion of radiation into heat is virtually instantaneous and inseparable from the absorption of radiation.

Heat then creates radiation over a wide bandwidth called black body radiation. The net effect is that absorbed fingerprint radiation is re-emitted as black body radiation. If this occurs in a solid, the heat gets trapped and conducts through the mass, while it can only radiate from the surface. But when this occurs in a gas (the atmosphere) the energy rapidly gets re-emitted as black body radiation.

If you set a jar of pickles on the kitchen table, it will absorb radiation, but it will not heat the kitchen. The reason is because all effects combined do not generate heat. Greenhouse gases are similar to the jar of pickles in that all effects combined do not generate heat.

The sun adds 235 watts per square meter (W/m²) of heat to the planet. The planet emits 235 W/m² into space. The radiation which cools the planet goes around greenhouse gases, not through them. Thirty percent of black body radiation goes around greenhouse gases to cool the planet. Greenhouse gases cannot change this 30% to some other number, and even if they did, the planet would still give up 235 W/m² at the other number due to equilibrium.

All temperature effects equilibrate due to the dissipation of heat. This means heat flows from warmer to cooler until there is no difference. In cooling the planet, emission of radiation produces a cooling effect, which in turn reduces emission of radiation, until the emission rate equals the amount of heat entering from the sun.

Therefore, the arguments by scientists concern where the radiation comes from and whether heat accumulates before radiation is emitted. These questions are infinitely more complex than the assumption that each molecule of CO2 is heating the planet. Yet alarmist nonscientists assume anyone would have to be crazy to assume otherwise. The tragedy is, the deciders are clueless on the complexities of the subject.