Education

The figure shows the inflow of energy from the sun, the losses of that incoming energy due to absorption in the atmosphere, etc., and the re-radiation of energy by infrared radiation from the earth's surface. Some of that energy is lost to space and some of it, 159 Watts/M², is absorbed in the atmosphere. The Greenhouse Gas Effect (GHE) postulates that the the greenhouse gases re-radiate that stored energy back to earth raising it's temperature.

But this violates the1^st law of thermodynamics. The 1^st law says that energy can be neither created nor destroyed, but can only change form. A particular consequence of this is that the total energy of an isolated system does not change. Thus the GHE is in violation of a law that has been well known for nearly 200 years because it claims that radiated energy from the earth's surface actually will raise the temperature when it is reabsorbed due to the GHE.

The GHE theory says that the earth re-radiates long wave radiation into the atmosphere which heats up the CO₂ which then radiates infrared radiation omnidirectionally. Besides the violation of the 1^st law of thermodynamics, energy transfers between different media involve losses not gains as postulated in the GHE theory. In other words, the CO₂in the atmosphereis a heat amplifier which is ridiculous.

Furthermore, the GHE theory totally ignores the adiabatic compression of the atmosphere due to gravitational force. This is what raises the temperature of the earth, as we all know when we go from the bottom of the mountain to the top and find out that we need a jacket because it's colder. The effect is the well known atmospheric lapse rate which is about 7^o Centigrade per kilometer of altitude. The heating of the earth from the atmosphere is from the heat due to the adiabatic compression of the atmosphere. This is true for all planets with atmospheres.

Note that about 35 million years ago the CO₂ was higher relative to the temperature and 15 million years ago it was lower. So, contrary to modern greenhouse gas theory, higher concentrations of CO₂ did not correspond to higher temperatures. The effect is even more pronounced 50-100 million years ago when CO₂ levels were much lower but temperatures were much higher.

As has been stated, the Greenhouse Gas theory originated from speculations by the 19th-Century physicist Arrhenius. This theory has never been verified with scientific experiments. There are a number of reasons that this is faulty science as shown in the following table.

1. The atmospheric greenhouse gas theory has its roots in a 19th century hypothesis proposed as a series of conjectures.

2. The definition of the Greenhouse Effect as an absorption of outgoing Infrared (IR) flux by the atmosphere yields physically nonsensical results.

3. Satellite observations provide no evidence that IR back radiation drives the atmospheric thermal effect at the surface.

4. The radiative Greenhouse theory violates the Energy Conservation Law (also known as the 1st law of thermodynamics) when explaining the magnitude of long wave IR fluxes near the surface. (the earth is magnifying the amount of energy when it re-radiates, in other words it’s a radiation amplifier)

5. The Greenhouse theory violates the Law of Entropy (also known as the 2nd law of thermodynamics) by claiming the Earth’s surface can increase its temperature by reabsorbing its own thermal emission. (the earth can be a thermal amplifier)

6. There is no physical evidence that the atmosphere acts as a thermal insulator to the Earth’s surface as assumed by the Greenhouse theory for over 200 years. (Thermal insulators have higher thermal resistance values, for example fiberglass, other wise we wouldn’t insulate our walls)

Tabletop CO₂ School Experiment Video

Is There Really a Radiating Altitude for CO₂? Video