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Learning center |
Understand the science behind the real greenhouse gas effect
Introduction
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These 3 GHGs are what climate change mandates focus on:
CO2 - carbon dioxide CH4 - methane N2O - nitrous oxide CH4 and N2O are the two agricultural GHGs the establishment claim are a problem |
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Shouldn't these 5 points be sufficient for you to demand a halt to the mandates?
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The most important paragraph in the Learning Center: Computing the pure greenhouse effect isolated from other things that control Earth's average temperature is a breakthrough. Climate Bell created GHG Lab to rapidly compute any change in GHG scenario. In computing Earth's absolute temperature from a change in GHGs, and no longer having it obfuscated, it unlocks the ability to address Earth's temperature record, study all the feedback effects, and see what portion of temperature rise is due to GHGs, versus changes in incoming solar radiation and total reflected solar radiation. The veil of uncertainty has been lifted.
One sentence description on how GHG Lab works: For those who may falter at following the explanation details below, GHG Lab works by calculating precisely and accurately how much energy gets absorbed by GHGs (create a 50% efficiency in escaping and causing a rise in temperature to balance incoming and outgoing radiation), while what doesn't get absorbed escapes through the atmospheric window at 100% efficiency.
More science or jump to the conclusions: If this is enough and you don't wish to understand more of the science, you can skip the details and scroll right to the conclusions section near the bottom and carry on from there.
Technical level of the science in the Learning Center: The remainder of the Learn Center is written at a high school level of science education and jargon. Give it a try even if you don't have a post-secondary education. You may find parts of it or all of it quite understandable. It is a short read as you can see this page isn't very long but is enough for someone to have a working understanding of the effect and how the calculations are done.
More science or jump to the conclusions: If this is enough and you don't wish to understand more of the science, you can skip the details and scroll right to the conclusions section near the bottom and carry on from there.
Technical level of the science in the Learning Center: The remainder of the Learn Center is written at a high school level of science education and jargon. Give it a try even if you don't have a post-secondary education. You may find parts of it or all of it quite understandable. It is a short read as you can see this page isn't very long but is enough for someone to have a working understanding of the effect and how the calculations are done.
The details
Overview of how precision and accuracy is achieved in GHG Lab: The temperature results in the 5 points above are obtained from Climate Bell's breakthrough simulator called GHG Lab (values quoted from 2.42a version). The results are computed from the detailed physics of the greenhouse gas effect in a 3-dimensional Earth system model developed from Climate Bell's R&D, and using the published greenhouse gas absorption spectrum data and the rising trend curves for carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). The response of the GHG gases to Earth's infrared emission are collectively integrated together and combined with the absorption spectrum data for ozone (O3) and water vapor (H2O) to achieve accuracy. Using a computationally intensive piece-wise integration of the response, the temperature effect of a change in GHGs is solved. Climate Bell's Earth system approach simplifies the problem and yet leaves out nothing of importance to compute an accurate temperature change.
How the greenhouse effect works: The rest of the details explains the proper greenhouse effect as required to compute temperature.
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Innovative Solution - GHG Lab
Climate Bell's GHG Lab calculator computes Earth's temperature rise for increasing GHGs by modeling the photon power transfer from the GHG effect with a 3-dimensional Earth system model implemented in GHG Lab.
A representative diagram is on the right. It is NASA's Earth energy budget. The only input and output to Earth's otherwise closed system are photons which must balance to achieve equilibrium. NASA's diagram has been annotated with a white curve defining the top of the atmosphere, a description in the upper right corner, and labeled with 6 data highlights (A through F), to facilitate an explanation of the computations below. |
NASA's Earth's energy budget diagram with annotations to help explain the greenhouse effect
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Greenhouse gases versus other atmospheric gases: What differentiates greenhouse gases from other atmospheric gases such as nitrogen, oxygen, and argon, is their ability to absorb photons of certain wavelengths of infrared radiation putting them into an excited vibrational state. Those GHGs in an excited state may give up that extra energy either by releasing a photon a brief time later in a random direction or transferring that extra energy to another gas molecule in a collision and thus directly heating the air. Of the two, the collision mechanism is called thermalization. Also, a GHG is capable of being excited into a vibrational state by a collision with another air molecule and then subsequently releasing a photon, a process called thermally excited emission.
For the thermally excited emissions mentioned above, Dr. Markus Ott has done some calculations regarding temperature and distribution of kinetic energy to be sufficient to excite CO2 to emit photos. He shows that at even very cold temperatures found in the atmosphere, there are air molecules with enough kinetic energy to cause thermally excited emissions. For instance, his calculation indicates at -53°C, there is still sufficient energy for 1.3% of the molecules colliding with CO2 molecules to transfer energy sufficient to cause a photon emission in the 15um emission band of CO2. So, in the final release of energy from GHGs to outer space, both photon excitation and collision excitation can excite a GHG to subsequently launch that energy in a photon sent in a random direction, with approximately 50% going to outer space.
For the thermally excited emissions mentioned above, Dr. Markus Ott has done some calculations regarding temperature and distribution of kinetic energy to be sufficient to excite CO2 to emit photos. He shows that at even very cold temperatures found in the atmosphere, there are air molecules with enough kinetic energy to cause thermally excited emissions. For instance, his calculation indicates at -53°C, there is still sufficient energy for 1.3% of the molecules colliding with CO2 molecules to transfer energy sufficient to cause a photon emission in the 15um emission band of CO2. So, in the final release of energy from GHGs to outer space, both photon excitation and collision excitation can excite a GHG to subsequently launch that energy in a photon sent in a random direction, with approximately 50% going to outer space.
The explanation in the diagram above and in the 6 steps defined below was written from an atmospheric window point of view to align with NASA's diagram. In the actual functioning of GHG Lab, it is calculating from the absorption point of view, with what doesn't get absorbed slipping out through the atmospheric window. The result is the same.
Easier than scientists thought: Contrary to what most people think, calculating the greenhouse effect is not a meteorological or climatological problem; it is a pure physics problem. The greenhouse effect is much simpler to compute than many people have realized including scientists. Think of the Earth System as a vacuum insulated flask, except it is not perfected sealed, having an input and an output that heat can be added or removed from. Heat is constantly being added by incoming solar radiation but throttled by the reflectivity of the Earth System. An equal amount of heat is being constantly removed by outgoing infrared radiation, but throttled by the concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere. When GHGs rise, there is more throttling and so the average temperature of the Earth's surface rises to push an equivalent amount of infrared out through the more restrictive path to keep the balance maintained.
Scientists agree that the internal workings of the climate are very complex for weather and even long-term trends in regional climate. It will surprise most that none of these complexities are involved in any way to compute the greenhouse effect on Earth's average temperature. To solve computing the greenhouse effect, a proper partitioning of the problem greatly simplifies one's ability to compute accurate results.
That partitioning simplification includes the following understandings and allow one to calculate the absolute heating of the Earth from GHGs:
Here are 6 points to understanding computing the temperature rise from increasing greenhouse gases referencing the diagram above:
Easier than scientists thought: Contrary to what most people think, calculating the greenhouse effect is not a meteorological or climatological problem; it is a pure physics problem. The greenhouse effect is much simpler to compute than many people have realized including scientists. Think of the Earth System as a vacuum insulated flask, except it is not perfected sealed, having an input and an output that heat can be added or removed from. Heat is constantly being added by incoming solar radiation but throttled by the reflectivity of the Earth System. An equal amount of heat is being constantly removed by outgoing infrared radiation, but throttled by the concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere. When GHGs rise, there is more throttling and so the average temperature of the Earth's surface rises to push an equivalent amount of infrared out through the more restrictive path to keep the balance maintained.
Scientists agree that the internal workings of the climate are very complex for weather and even long-term trends in regional climate. It will surprise most that none of these complexities are involved in any way to compute the greenhouse effect on Earth's average temperature. To solve computing the greenhouse effect, a proper partitioning of the problem greatly simplifies one's ability to compute accurate results.
That partitioning simplification includes the following understandings and allow one to calculate the absolute heating of the Earth from GHGs:
- only outer space bound infrared radiation (IR) is involved in the greenhouse effect
- absolutely no heat transfer mechanisms factor into the calculations - it's a zero-sum game and no energy is gained or lost
- in wavelength regions where virtually all IR is absorbed before reaching outer space, no further GHG increases have any effect
- in wavelength regions where only some IR is absorbed, the ones that get to outer space do so with 100% efficiency
- space bound IR that gets absorbed by GHGs, that heat energy returns to outer space with a 50% efficiency by GHGs
Here are 6 points to understanding computing the temperature rise from increasing greenhouse gases referencing the diagram above:
- The incident solar radiation (A) minus the reflected light (D) is what is absorbed (B+C) in the Earth System. A - D = B + C
- The infrared radiation leaving (E) the Earth System is the same as what is absorbed. E = B + C
- Using the actual elevated temperature of the Earth's surface due to the greenhouse effect, the blackbody radiation (BBR) is calculated. BBR will be higher than E due to the greenhouse effect of trapping heat in the Earth System. BBR > E = true
- The radiation that is outer space bound comes from the Earth's surface and to a lesser extent cloud tops and is equal to BBR. What passes through the atmosphere without being intercepted by greenhouse gases is the atmospheric window infrared radiation (F) and gets to outer space in a 100% efficient fashion (no interception). All the rest is released to outer space with a 50% efficiency by being "flung" from excited GHGs in random directions. So, when there are greenhouse gases in the atmosphere F is smaller than E due to a portion of the infrared radiation being absorbed. F < E = true
- The key equation will now be stated. E = F + ((BBR - F) * 0.5)
- When greenhouse gases rise, F gets smaller due to more absorption (the atmospheric window is reduced), and so temperature rises to create a new higher BBR to satisfy the equation in point 5. The equation in 2 must be satisfied by the increase in BBR to accommodate the decrease in F. The Earth is in a quasi-static equilibrium to satisfy the incoming and outgoing radiation. So a substitution for E is this equation. B + C = F + ((BBR - F) * 0.5)
Here is your diploma!
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If you have understood the above explanation of the actual greenhouse effect, congratulations as you've just graduated from the Climate Bell' Learning Center. GHG Lab performs the calculations for you using that greenhouse effect.
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Conclusions
Climate change fear: In summary, many people who adopted the belief in establishment claims about global warming (climate change) were likely convinced they were doing the right thing for the planet or for future generations. Those legitimately afflicted with climate change concerns, rather than those just profiting from the climate change industry, can embrace Climate Bell's R&D to alleviate their fears. Their fears likely developed from the relentless parroting of baseless claims from establishment media and others. For those who don't have enough scientific background and experience to question what they were being told, or didn't have enough skepticism about possible establishment motives, they should not feel any guilt whatsoever for having been pulled along in the escalation of the alarmism. It is very understandable that they believed they were on the correct side by what they were told.
Hope from learning: By learning more about greenhouse gases, and having the science explained and encapsulated in an easy-to-use calculator, many can be freed from dependence on so called "experts". They can now better appreciate that their concerns were unfounded.
Hope from learning: By learning more about greenhouse gases, and having the science explained and encapsulated in an easy-to-use calculator, many can be freed from dependence on so called "experts". They can now better appreciate that their concerns were unfounded.
Next steps to consider
- Check out our results summary table for many very interesting scenarios computed using GHG Lab
- See how important GHG Lab can be to getting calculations right by visiting the handouts page
- To do your own experiments, download the freeware GHG Lab
- If you like Climate Bell's R&D and wish to show support you can make an appreciation donation for as little as $10. That is the only monetization we have for Climate Bell at this stage so any financial assistance is immensely helpful
- You might like to use one of our grassroots team-building images to assist you in a quick and colorful social media post
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