Article
Back radiation versus CO2 as the cause of climate change H Douglas Lightfoot1 and Orval A Mamer2
Energy & Environment 0(0) 1–12 ! The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0958305X17722790 journals.sagepub.com/home/eae
Abstract Robust scientific evidence shows the sun angle controls water vapour content of the atmosphere, the main component of back radiation, as it cycles annually. Water vapour content measured as the ratio of the number of water molecules to CO2 molecules varies from 1:1 near the Poles to 97:1 in the Tropics. The effect of back radiation on Earth’s atmosphere is up to 200 times larger than that of CO2 and works in the opposite direction. Thus, if CO2 has any effect on atmospheric temperature and climate change we show it is negligible. Consequently, current government policies to control atmospheric temperature by limiting consumption of fossil fuels will have negligible effect. Measured data reported in IPCC report Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis (AR5) indicate increased water vapour content of the atmosphere is the cause of the 0.5 C temperature increase from the mid-1970s to 2011. Keywords Back radiation, water vapour, carbon dioxide, CO2, sun angle, downwelling
Introduction The stored solar energy in coal, oil and natural gas has provided the fuel and chemicals that make the world a much better and safer place for all of us. The beneficial effect of these fuels on the welfare of humans is profound and cannot be overestimated. They lifted much of the world’s population out of poverty.1 With this background, the severe consequences of the current energy policy to drastically reduce the consumption of fossil fuels are a cause for concern. Is such a drastic policy necessary? Is carbon dioxide (CO2) really causing significant climate change? To answer these questions, we studied the reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the writings of scientists who promote CO2 as the cause of climate 1 2
The Lightfoot Institute, Baie-D’Urfe, Canada Goodman Cancer Research Centre of McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Corresponding author: H Douglas Lightfoot, The Lightfoot Institute, 8 Watterson, Baie-D’Urfe, QC H9X3C2, Canada. Email: dlightfo@aei.ca