Let's dive into the physics of global warming. The science of CO2 was first published in 1824, and in 1896, a Swedish scientist further outlined the process.
However, they didn't know quantum physics. To this day, scientists fail to realize that the physics of gas molecules is not the same as that of solid or liquid molecules.
The chemistry of CO2 indicates that the molecule does not have a dipole moment for capturing infrared light. To get around that, they explain that CO2 can vibrate in various ways, allowing it to capture infrared heat.
However, these are assumptions because we know that molecules aren't little balls of vibrating particles. Additionally, we don't know enough about electrons and photons. The science of global warming has been pieced together without a thorough understanding of the physics.
Thermal imaging devices detect heat emitted by objects. The hotter an object is, the greater the intensity and frequency. We can take photos of the landscape using infrared film or an infrared camera, showing that objects vibrate and emit low-frequency infrared light. However, a gas doesn't emit infrared light, or it would fog the infrared images.
A single gas molecule is unable to absorb or emit infrared light. However, CO2 molecules are good at absorbing heat by conduction, convection, and kinetic energy.
Fundamentals of Gas Molecules
The Planck law states that all bodies (not gases) above absolute zero continuously emit infrared energy through the emission of electromagnetic radiation and absorb energy in the presence of infrared radiation incident on them.
The infrared light created by fundamental particles in matter travels freely through gas, space, and the atmosphere. Thus, CO2 in the atmosphere is transparent to infrared light.
Gas molecules absorb heat from their surroundings and transfer it to colder particles and molecules through contact, such as convection, conduction, or by exchanging kinetic energy. That means CO2 molecules are great at cooling the Earth at night, but can't radiate infrared light.
The thermosphere is a region of intense heat where solar radiation interacts with ozone and ultraviolet light. CO2 molecules can transfer heat through kinetic energy to the stratosphere and reach the thermosphere to escape Earth's gravity.
This critique could reshape our understanding of global warming.
Absorption and emission of heat depend on the frequency of the radiation. All molecules vibrate depending on their temperature or kinetic energy.
The hotter an object is, the greater the intensity and frequency.
Consider a boiler system in a house that uses a furnace to heat a water container. The hot water is pumped into radiators, where the heat is transferred to the air molecules in the room by conduction and convection. A thermal camera can see the temperature variations in the water lines, and an infrared camera detects infrared light from the radiators.
Thus, there are two or more types of heat radiation. The passive heat from objects transfers heat by conduction, plus all material objects except gas emit infrared electromagnetic radiation.
Does Carbon Dioxide Trap Heat?
Greenhouse images abound on the internet, showing sunlight and infrared light entering the Earth and being absorbed by the atmosphere.
Classical science experiments demonstrate that carbon dioxide traps infrared heat, but there’s a flaw in the experiments. They use a container with carbon dioxide gas and a container of air. A source of infrared light shines on the containers, and the temperature of the gases is measured. The results show that the carbon dioxide container gets hot and stays hotter for a longer period. What is the flaw with these experiments?
These experiments utilize up to 100% CO2 in a container, whereas the atmosphere contains only 0.04% CO2. Yes, CO2 becomes hot and retains heat if a medium to transfer heat is missing. Do we have instruments that can record CO2 emitting infrared light? Infrared devices detect heat signatures and temperature, rather than directly "seeing" infrared light.
CO2 molecules don't absorb or emit infrared photons as assumed. Instead, they absorb the ambient heat and transfer heat by conduction to other molecules, but they can't do that when trapped inside a container.
Misunderstanding the science of thermal heat has fueled the misconceptions of global warming. Instead, CO2 is a molecule that can transfer heat and cool the Earth.
Experiencing the Effects of Solar Warming
Imagine sitting in a car on a sunny day. Sunlight contains approximately 50% infrared photons, which enter the vehicle along with visible light, heating the interior items. The molecules in objects then transfer heat by conduction to the inside air, but the air molecules cannot travel through the windows. The interior becomes hot like a sauna.
However, later in the day, the heat has dissipated by conduction with the molecules in the glass and other items. This process also happens on Earth, when radiative cooling transfers heat to air molecules and moves it to the stratosphere.
A greenhouse works by the same principles. Sunlight is a mixture of visible light and infrared heat that enters through the glass walls and ceiling. The interior items become hot and they transfer heat to the surrounding air molecules, but the hot air remains trapped within the greenhouse. However, the atmosphere on Earth doesn't prevent heat from leaving. The idea that CO2 traps heat only happens in a container.
Additionally, although CO2 molecules retain heat, they can't emit infrared radiation back to Earth, and heat transfer occurs primarily through conduction or kinetic energy. The greenhouse gas emissions theory is another example of “what you see isn't what it seems.” Appearances are often deceptive
Thermal Heat and Infrared Radiation
There's a meaningful distinction between "thermal heat" and "infrared radiation.” The main point is that thermal radiation transfers heat through direct contact with a solid, liquid, or gas, while infrared radiation travels at the speed of light in both space and the atmosphere.
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a specific frequency in the range of 0.3 THz to 400 THz that exists in any type of process. Infrared radiation can also be called infrared light, infrared heat, or infrared waves. There are many ways to generate infrared radiation, and the thermal transfer of heat has multiple pathways.
This Image shows three main types of radiation, and the transfer of heat has many paths. (Public domain image).
Planck's Law states that the spectrum of the emitted radiation from matter is determined only by the temperature. Energy in matter is converted into low-frequency infrared light from kinetic vibrations and random movements of electrons and protons in matter. This infrared heat radiates to the atmosphere, as in the example of infrared heat from a radiator. Thus, heat can come from many sources in various forms.
For example, a campfire emits infrared light, visible light, ultraviolet light, thermal heating of air molecules, and CO2 in greater amounts than from burning fossil fuels. Wildfires can seriously increase global warming because all the stored energy in wood is immediately released into the atmosphere. The CO2 and the gas molecules in the air can absorb heated air and conduct it to colder molecules in the upper atmosphere.
However, most of the heat from a fire is infrared light. Similarly, the heat from the sun arrives as infrared light, making the environment warmer. Some infrared light may escape to the upper atmosphere by convection, but most of it will add heat to the fire and landscape.
The heat remains for days or weeks until CO2 and air molecules are available to transfer the environmental heat to cooler locations. If CO2 gas weren't available, the global temperature would be even warmer. The idea of greenhouse gases preventing radiative cooling is scientifically unfounded.
Transferring Heat and Global Warming
Understanding how heat is transferred from objects to the atmosphere is paramount to global warming. Scientific research says, "CO2 molecules trap heat in the atmosphere instead of radiating it to space."
Sunlight contains 50% infrared, about 49% visible, and some ultraviolet light. Infrared light heats the Earth's surface, which acts like a blackbody that can absorb and emit thermal and infrared radiation.
Matter is composed of charged particles, such as protons and electrons. The kinetic interactions among molecules in matter result in charged acceleration and dipole oscillation. The electrodynamic generation of coupled electric and magnetic fields results in the emission of infrared photons from all objects, but not from a gas.
The Earth cools by using CO2 gas that can absorb heat from a warm surface or by kinetic energy and transfer the thermal heat to other molecules by conduction, convection, and kinetic energy.
When a fast-moving CO2 molecule collides with a slower one, it transfers some of its kinetic energy to the slower molecule. This transfer can change the speed of both molecules, effectively spreading heat from areas of higher temperature to regions of lower temperature.
However, gas molecules can't absorb or emit infrared light. CO2 and other gases absorb passive heat and transfer it. That's the science of thermodynamics.
Moreover, infrared spectroscopy analyzes the dipole moments and vibrations of molecules; however, it can be confusing because gas molecules do absorb visible sunlight and emit visible photons. An example of this process occurs when solar radiation enters the atmosphere and interacts with gas molecules. That's how Rayleigh scattering makes the sky blue.
Additionally, the increase in CO2 follows the increase in global warming, rather than the other way around. What if the greater amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is because Mother Nature is cooling the planet?
Then we have it backward because having more CO2 is the best way to transfer heat to colder levels. Understanding the actual physics of global warming is essential to know how to combat climate change.
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