Global_Warming_and_the_Greenhouse_Effect - AZ by John A. Shanahan

Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect: Statements, Questions and Facts

Aleksandr Zhitomirskiy

March 8, 2025

The article discusses ideas about the role of so-called greenhouse gases in changing the temperature of the earth's atmosphere. A detailed analysis of the essence of the problem raises questions to which the existing theory does not give a satisfactory answer. When analyzing temperature changes, we are talking about the discrepancy between the temperature of the surface layer of the atmosphere and the temperature of the earth's surface water, the inconsistency of temperature values measured by different methods, and the accuracy of averaged values. When discussing the role of greenhouse gases, the validity of choosing different bands in the spectrum for calculating absorption coefficients is considered. The role of substances that absorb infrared radiation but are not included in the IPCC list of greenhouse gases is discussed. The main questions to the existing theory are the lack of proof of the correspondence between the absorption of infrared radiation of a certain wavelength and heat absorption, as well as the lack of a satisfactory explanation for heat absorption by all gases in the atmosphere. In this regard, the existing theory of the greenhouse effect cannot be considered justified.

1. Introduction

Today many scientists and politicians, economists and journalists are talking about climate change. Even schoolchildren go on strike to protest the lack of attention to this problem. Politicians and journalists usually rely on the opinion of one group of scientists ignoring the arguments of their opponents. At the same time, the discussion between scientists has long gone beyond the exchange of opinions and discussion of facts, often it comes down to assigning nicknames to opponents: on one hand, “climate deniers”, on the other hand, “climate alarmists”. To find out the truth, one must first of all formulate the subject of discussion and the positions of the parties, and then discuss the facts relevant to the problem.

It is said that the overwhelming majority of scientists (97%?) have already made

their choice in favor of the "alarmists". However, scientific questions are not decided by voting. In 1931, the booklet was published in Germany titled “ One hundred authors against Einstein” (https://skepticalinquirer.org/2020/11/100authors-against-einstein-a-look-in-the-rearview-mirror/. In 1948, a meeting of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences in the Soviet Union unanimously declared genetics a "bourgeois pseudo-science".

The essence of modern ideas about global warming, according to IPCC reports, can be summarized as follows: a) global warming began about 150 years ago in connection with the industrial revolution; b) the cause of global warming is the increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, primarily carbon dioxide due to the combustion of fossil fuels; (c) greenhouse gases in the atmosphere absorb infrared radiation reflected from the Earth and hence heat, leading to additional heating.

If we agree that the main criterion for the truth of a scientific theory is its correspondence to the facts, then we can try to briefly discuss the main provisions of the theory of the greenhouse effect from these positions. Answers to questions and comments here will be formulated as briefly as possible; each issue deserves detailed discussion.

2. Quantitative characteristics of global warming.

The latest IPCC report (2021) quantifies the magnitude of global warming and the role of the greenhouse effect as follows [1]:

The likely range of total human-caused global surface temperature increase from 1850–1900 to 2010–2019 is 0.8°C to 1.3°C, with a best estimate of 1.07°C. It is likely that well-mixed GHGs contributed a warming of 1.0°C to 2.0°C, other human drivers (principally aerosols) contributed a cooling of 0.0°C to 0.8°C, natural drivers changed global surface temperature by –0.1°C to 0.1°C, and internal variability changed it by –0.2°C to 0.2°C.”

It is specified (ibid., p. 7) that for comparison, data for the years 1-2000 were taken from paleoclimatic archives, and for 1850-2020 from "direct

observations". In all cases, we are talking about "global surface temperature".

Let us try to formulate the questions that arise when reading this text.

2.1. How is surface temperature measured? - Surface temperature is the temperature of the land and water surface, which is obviously different from the surface air temperature measured at weather stations. Regular measurements of land and water surface temperatures have actually been made since the late 1970s using infrared sensors on satellites. The accuracy of these measurements is lower than that of weather stations. It is unclear how these data sets over the past half century can be reconciled, much less how to convert previous air temperature data into surface temperature.

2.2. Is the reliability of measurement results the same in the 19th century as it is today? - This question concerns the accuracy of measuring instruments, their standardization and calibration, as well as the placement and number of weather stations. As for the first part of the question, it is only known that there is no international control and verification of instruments. Information on the placement of weather stations on land from 1885 to 2006 is available on the Climate Audit website: https://climateaudit.org/2008/02/10/historical-stationdistribution/ . From the comparison of the given maps it is clear what huge areas in Asia, Africa, South America were not covered by measurements in the 19th and first quarter of the 20th century. Even at present there are very few measurements in Antarctica and Greenland. The density of the placement of stations in the USA and Western Europe compared to other regions may be the reason for the distortion of the average statistical temperature value.

2.3. What is the accuracy of the mean value estimate? - As can be seen from the above quotation [1], the IPCC estimates the change in global temperature to within tenths of a degree (0.8 - 1.3 o C), and the most probable value to within one hundredth of a degree (1.07 o C). These are average values. To calculate average values, the primary data is subjected to the arithmetic operations of addition and division. According to the rule of significant figures, the result of an arithmetic operation must contain as many decimal places as the number with the fewest significant figures used in that operation contains. The error in measuring temperature with modern thermometers is usually estimated as 0.2 o

C. Special study [2] of accuracy of the temperature sensors in the U.S. Climate Reference Networks (USCRN) the error was of 0.2 o C to 0.33 o C over the range25o to 50 o C. In this case, the measurement error increases for both lower (< -20 o C) and higher (> 40 o C) temperatures. Another special study [3] shows that when measuring temperature remotely using infrared thermography, the error is significantly greater and can reach 1-2 o C. Taking these facts into account, the accuracy of the estimate of the change in average temperature seems questionable.

2.4. What facts confirm that the temperature change is global? - IPCC reports include figures and graphs showing changes in estimated global temperatures or average temperature "anomalies" (deviations of average temperatures over years from the average for a century or other period). It is known that the temperature increase in polar and subpolar regions is greater than in equatorial regions (at least in the Northern Hemisphere). However, other facts are also known. The first IPCC report (1990) published a review [4] that noted significant differences in temperature changes for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Another study showed differences in temperature trends for different regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with an increase in average maximum and minimum temperatures during 1950–1995 in Scandinavia and a simultaneous decrease in temperatures in West Greenland [5] . If we describe the change in the local average annual temperature T for a certain period depending on the number of years y since the beginning of the period by the linear equation T = a + b y , then the value of the coefficient b characterizes the magnitude of the temperature trend, and the corresponding value of the correlation coefficient r characterizes the reliability of the existence of such a dependence for the selected period. The results of such calculations, performed for 26 places in different parts of the world, demonstrate a wide range of values of b and r: https://www.academia.edu/115238282/Global_and_Local_Temperature_Tren ds_A_Critical_Analysis These results are also inconsistent with the idea of a single global pattern of temperature change.

2.5. What facts indicate that the increase in temperature during the specified period is due to human activity? - Essentially, all that is known is that there was an increase in average temperature (at least on most of the earth) and at the same time the concentration of so-called greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

increased. This fact in itself does not prove a cause-and-effect relationship between these events, especially since there is no scientifically based method for assessing the influence of various natural factors on temperature changes. So the question is how exactly “well-mixed GHGs contributed a warming” should be considered separately.

3. The importance of different gases in the greenhouse effect

The greenhouse effect, as defined in the Encyclopedia Britannica, is "a warming of surface and troposphere (the lowest layer of the atmosphere) caused by the presence of water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, and certain other gases in the air “: https://www.britannica.com/science/greenhouse-effect . The same source defines greenhouse gas as "any gas that has the property of absorbing infrared radiation (net heat energy) emitted from the Earth's surface and reradiating it back to the Earth's surface”. (Let us clarify right away that the ability of a gas to absorb infrared radiation is determined by the presence of a spectrum of this gas in the infrared region; as for heat absorption and reradiation, these issues will be discussed separately). The list of greenhouse gases is given in the 2007 IPCC report and includes 63 chemical compounds [6]. On page 28 of the report in question, the role of water vapor and stratospheric and tropospheric ozone is mentioned, but these substances are not included in the main list.

The role of different greenhouse gases in energy absorption, according to the IPCC, is characterized by the values of radiative forcing and radiative effeciency. The magnitude of radiative forcing is defined as a quantitative measure of a change in the balance of energy flowing through a planetary atmosphere and is expressed in W/ m2. The radiation efficiencies (RE) given in the IPCC list of greenhouse gases are obtained by dividing the corresponding radiation forcings by the concentrations of substances expressed in parts per billion (ppb). The lowest value of RE was found for CO2 and is 1.4 ×10-5 W/(m2 ppb), while for the organofluorine compound CHF2OCF2OC2F4OCHF2 it reaches 1.37 W/(m2 ppb). The global warming potential values assigned to each substance are calculated based on the stability (lifetime) of that substance in the atmosphere.

The RE values or each compound are calculated on the basis of the infrared spectra of that compound, namely the integrated absorption cross sections values, as described, for example, in article [7]. Thus, the defining characteristic of a greenhouse gas is the ability of its molecules to absorb infrared radiation, although it is unclear what causes such huge differences in values RE. However, before discussing this issue, we would like to clarify the principle by which the IPCC includes in its list certain substances that are capable of absorbing infrared radiation.

3.1.Why is water vapor not included in the IPCC list and what is its role in the greenhouse effect? - The answer to this question is formulated as follows [6, p. 28]: “Direct emission of water vapour by human activities makes a negligible contribution to radiative forcing. However, as global mean temperatures increase, tropospheric water vapour concentrations increase and this represents a key feedback but not a forcing of climate change”. Commenting on this explanation, it is necessary to dwell on two points. Firstly, for whatever reason water vapor appears in the atmosphere, it absorbs infrared radiation and its absorption bands occupy a larger area than other gases. Secondly, the change in the concentration of water vapor is determined not by the change in the "global" temperature, but by the characteristics of local climatic zones: deserts, tropical forests, mountain ranges, etc. This is why comparing the concentration of water vapor and temperature in different places provides an opportunity to assess the greenhouse effect of this gas. Based on the idea of the greenhouse effect of water vapor, an explanation has been proposed for the sharp difference between day and night temperatures in deserts: "In very dry desert climates, where the water vapor concentration is unusually low, it may be extremely hot during the day but very cold at night. In the absence of an extensive layer of water vapor to absorb and then radiate part of the infrared radiation back to Earth, the surface loses this radiation into space and cools off very rapidly” [8, p. 781]. The differences between day and night temperatures in deserts are really big and reach 75 o F (42 o C) in Sahara desert: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/642774/why-deserts-are-hot-during-daycold-at-night . However, the proposed explanation is incorrect. In the desert air, there is a low value of relative humidity (15-25%), but not the concentration of water vapor. Knowing the air temperature, you can determine the corresponding

saturated water vapor pressure: https://www.omnicalculator.com/chemistry/vapour-pressure-of-water . For example, at a temperature of 40 o C the pressure of saturated water vapor is about 7.3 kPa which, at a relative humidity of 20% and a total atmospheric pressure of 100 kPa, corresponds to the molar concentration of water vapor 7.3 × 0.20 / 100 = 0.0146 = 1.46 % . This concentration, at the same general atmospheric pressure and 100% relative humidity, corresponds to a temperature of about 13 °C; this combination of temperature and humidity is often found in places with a temperate climate. The difference between day and night air temperatures in the desert has a simple physical explanation. The amount of heat absorbed by the surface (sand) during daylight hours is determined by the mass of the absorbing substance and its specific heat capacity. The mass in this case depends on the depth to which the sand can warm up, which is determined by thermal conductivity. For comparison: the thermal conductivity of dry sand and clay is 0.2 and 1.1 W/m K, and the specific heat capacity is 830 and 1380 J/kg K, respectively (Engineering Toolbox). The relatively small amount of sand heats up to a high temperature during the day and cools down quickly at night. The lack of clouds and vegetation also promotes rapid cooling. It is interesting to note that at weather stations located in places with a typical desert climate, the difference between day and night temperatures is much smaller than in the desert itself:

https://www.academia.edu/126467561/Correlation_between_Water_Vapor_an d_Atmospheric_Temperature_A_Re_evaluation_of_the_Greenhouse_Effect .

This can be explained by the difference in the thermal properties of sand and concrete, as well as the presence of various structures (weather stations are located at airports).

As a result, it can be concluded that the exclusion of water vapor from the list of greenhouse gases cannot be considered justified.

3.2. Is ozone a greenhouse gas? - IPCC defines ozone as a “significant greenhouse gas that is formed and destroyed by chemical reactions involving other species in the atmosphere” [6, p.28]. We cannot judge how "significant" the greenhouse effect of ozone is, since data on its absorption coefficient and radiative efficiency are not provided. In the infrared spectrum of ozone, according to the US National Institute of Standards (NIST), two transmission bands are found: a weak one with a minimum at 2370 cm-1 and a strong one with

a minimum at 1060 cm-1 which corresponds to absorption maxima at wavelengths of 4.2 and 9.4 μ. There is no independent experimental evidence that ozone absorption of infrared radiation at these wavelengths leads to a temperature change. In the case of ozone, such an experiment is unlikely to be possible because any result would be distorted by the release of heat due to the exothermic reaction of ozone decomposition: 2 O3 →3 O2 + 285 kJ.

Being a strong oxidizer, ozone also reacts with many compounds in the atmosphere (all reactions are exothermic), and is therefore the most unstable substance of all that have ever been attributed greenhouse properties. As a result of chemical processes involving ozone, heat is released, which causes an increased temperature in the stratosphere compared to the tropopause, but there is no reason to talk about any role in this due to the absorption of infrared radiation by ozone.

3.3. Are there any greenhouse gases not listed by the IPCC? - Based on the definition of a greenhouse gas as a substance capable of absorbing radiation in the infrared region of the spectrum, there could be a huge number of such gases. It is easier to list the substances that do not absorb in the IR region: these are nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, halogens (Group 17) and inert gases (Group 18 of the Periodic Table). All organic compounds absorb IR radiation at certain frequencies, and the number of known organic compounds, according to an estimate on the website Science Oxygen, was over 16 million in April 2024: https://scienceoxygen.com/how-many-organic-compounds-are-known-atpresent/ . The IPCC list does not contain quite common inorganic substances (bandwidth ranges and peaks from the NIST data are given in brackets, cm-1 , the most intense bands are highlighted in bold): CO (2200 - 2085), NO (1925 –1807, 1653 – 1597,1323 – 1290), HCl (3100 – 2650), HBr (2688 – 2400), NH3 (3340,1690 – 1490, 1642, 1160 – 715), SO2 (1375, 1400 – 1330, < 470), H2 S (3725, 1690- 1490, 1372 – 1213). Nitrogen dioxide, found in industrial emissions and combustion products, is also of interest. Its IR spectrum contains absorption bands at 3.3μ, 6.14μ, 7.28μ and 15.6μ, and for its dimer N2 O4 at 3.89μ, 5.7μ, 7.85μ and 13.3μ [9]. The band centered at 15.6 μ (wave number 641 cm-1) overlaps with the main absorption band of carbon dioxide: 3 peaks in the range 725-620 cm-1 (NIST). In some cases, there is an overlap of these absorption bands with the bands of the main greenhouse gases: the peak of SO2

1375 cm -1 falls into the band of methane 1355 – 1250 cm -1, which is also overlapped by the band of H2 S 1372 – 1213 cm -1 the band of N2O 1188-1150 cm -1 is overlapped by the band of ammonia 1160-715 cm -1 , which overlaps also the band of ozone (1060-1015 cm -1), SF6 (948 cm -1), CCl4 (705- 805 cm -1) and other halogen derivatives. The examination of the IR spectra of organic compounds, among which the most important are the simplest alkanes, alkenes, acetylene, benzene, methanol, and ethanol, provides other examples of overlapping absorption bands, which ultimately leads to the conclusion that the assessment of the absorption capacity of individual compounds is unreliable. This also casts doubt on the corresponding values of radiative efficiency calculated from the absorption spectra of individual compounds.

4. Absorption of infrared radiation by greenhouse gases

The previous section discussed the absorption of infrared radiation by greenhouse gases and essentially left unanswered the question of how this absorption leads to heat retention in the atmosphere, i.e., to an increase in temperature. Publications on the greenhouse effect do not essentially analyze the essence of this process. It is only known that the IPCC attributes all observed increases in global temperature to the greenhouse effect [1], and the definition of the greenhouse effect in the Encyclopedia Britannica simply identifies the absorption of infrared radiation and thermal energy. Here we will try to formulate questions and consider the relevant facts to clarify the essence of this problem.

4.1. If the heating is caused by greenhouse gases, then what is it that heats up the main components of the atmosphere - nitrogen, oxygen and argon, which do not absorb IR radiation? - I have not found any discussion of this natural question in scientific publications on the greenhouse effect. Even the textbook lacks an explanation, and only provides the statement: «The two atmospheric components of greatest importance in maintaining Earth's surface temperature are carbon dioxide and water. Without them, the average surface temperature of Earth would be 254 K, a temperature too low to sustain life” [8, p. 780]. This statement could be confirmed by a simple experiment, heating

under identical conditions equal amounts of air containing the gases mentioned and purified from them. Such experiments were conducted repeatedly, and they did not confirm the increase in temperature caused by carbon dioxide: https://www.academia.edu/81698830/ABOUT_EXPERIMENTAL_PROOF_O

F_THE_GREENHOUSE_EFFECT . Since the fact of air heating is generally indisputable, the only physically sound explanation for this can be that the change in temperature of any substance is determined by the amount of absorbed thermal energy, the amount of substance, and its heat capacity. There is no relationship between the ability of a substance to absorb infrared radiation and heat capacity.

The fact that gases that do not absorb IR radiation absorb thermal energy and heat up can serve as a basis for refuting the greenhouse effect theory. However, to clarify the essence of the process of absorption of this radiation by gases, it is necessary to clarify some more questions.

4.2. If the heating is caused by greenhouse gases, then what is it that heats up the main components of the atmosphere - nitrogen, oxygen and argon, which do not absorb IR radiation? - I have not found any discussion of this natural question in scientific publications on the greenhouse effect. Even the textbook lacks an explanation, and only provides the statement: «The two atmospheric components of greatest importance in maintaining Earth's surface temperature are carbon dioxide and water. Without them, the average surface temperature of Earth would be 254 K, a temperature too low to sustain life” [8, p. 780]. This statement could be confirmed by a simple experiment, heating under identical conditions equal amounts of air containing the gases mentioned and purified from them. Such experiments were conducted repeatedly, and they did not confirm the increase in temperature caused by carbon dioxide: https://www.academia.edu/81698830/ABOUT_EXPERIMENTAL_PROOF_O

4.3. Are all absorption bands in the infrared spectrum of a substance important for assessing the absorption of radiation by a gas? - At the beginning of Section 3 it was already said that the greenhouse effect theory characterizes greenhouse gases by their radiative efficiency, calculated on the basis of integrated absorption cross sections, that is, by the area under the absorption curve. This means that both the absorption intensity (ordinate) and the energy (abscissa) are taken into account, since the wave number, like the frequency ν, according to Planck's equation E = h ν , is directly proportional to the energy. As an example, we can consider the choice of absorption bands in the infrared spectra of chloromethanes . Let's compare transmittance bands (cm-1 ) of these compounds chosen for calculations by T.J. Wallington a.o. [10] with another bands which are visible in the spectra from NIST ((the most intense bands are highlighted):

Compound Band [10] All bands (NIST)

CH3 Cl 660 – 780 2940 - 3100, 2825 - 2940, 1325 - 1540, 660-760

CH2 Cl2 650 – 800 3050 – 3070, 2985 – 3000, 1425, 1235, 900, 694 –762

CHCl3 720 – 810 1220, 720 – 750, 682 - 675

CCl4 730 – 825 750 – 805

It is obvious from this example that to calculate the values of radiative efficiency characterizing the greenhouse effect, only individual transmission (absorption) regions are selected, and, as a rule, the bands corresponding to larger values of wave numbers, i.e. larger energies, are ignored. The same is found in the case of the "main greenhouse gas" CO2, when the most intense transmission band of 2270 - 2380 cm-1 is ignored and only a narrow band with a peak at 667 cm-1 is taken into account. It is obvious that the

answer to the question posed in this subsection is negative. This leads to a new question:

4.4. Is there a criterion by which characteristic bands are selected in the infrared spectra of greenhouse gases? - The extensive literature on the greenhouse effect has failed to provide a direct answer to this question. One can try to evaluate this criterion indirectly, based on some statements.

«The troposphere is transparent to visible light but not to infrared radiation” [8, p. 780]. First of all, it is necessary to clarify that the authors are talking about solar radiation falling on the earth. According to an approximate estimate of the distribution of solar radiation energy by wavelength [11],7% is UV radiation (0380 nm), 47% is visible light (380 - 780 nm) and 46% is near infrared (7803000 nm). At wavelengths greater than 3000 nm (3 μ), which corresponds to wave numbers less than 3330 cm-1 , the energy of incident solar radiation is negligible, and in this case gases can already absorb the radiation emitted by the earth's surface (terrestrial radiation).

It is customary to consider the Earth as a black body, the radiation of which is described by Planck's equation: Eλ = c2 h λ-5 [exp(c h/k λ T) – 1] -1 , where c = 2.998×108 m/s, h = 6.626×10-34 J s, k = 1.38×10-23 J/K. The dependence Eλ = f (λ) at normal temperatures of 273, 288 and 303 K is described by a curves with a maxima, and at any temperature Eλ becomes zero at a wavelength of about 3 μ and decreases by 30-50 times compared to the maximum at a wavelength of 50 μ or more.

Taking into account the above, let's look at what region of the spectrum the absorption bands of some greenhouse gases are located in. When considering these data, it is necessary to keep in mind that the region of wavelengths 3-5 μ (wave number range 3330 – 2000 см-1) accounts for a negligible amount of incident solar energy and a minimum of energy emitted by the earth's surface. It is in this region that the most intense band of carbon dioxide is located (22702380 cm-1), which, according to the NIST spectrum, exceeds the band with the center at 667 cm-1 both in intensity and in the size of the area under the curve. Here is also located one of the two intense bands of methane (2870 - 3150 cm-1), N2O (2190 -2250 cm-1), relatively small band of ozone (2370 – 2320 cm-1), and

some other gases.

It is obvious that the researchers who perform calculations of radiation efficiency ignore the spectral data in this region. They also ignore the absorption bands in the region of incident solar radiation, for example, for water vapor (3500 – 4000 cm -1) and carbon dioxide (3580 – 3730 cm -1). Indeed, if we take this absorption into account and consider that the energy in this region is several times greater than for the main CO2 band (667 cm-1), it turns out that CO2 delays solar radiation heating the earth to a greater extent than it slows down the leakage of terrestrial radiation into space. Naturally, this issue is not addressed in publications on the greenhouse effect.

We see that a detailed examination of the infrared spectra of greenhouse gases reveals facts that do not fit into the accepted theory of the greenhouse effect. It is also important to discuss the question of how the absorption of infrared energy is related to temperature changes.

5. Relationship between infrared absorption and temperature change

As mentioned at the beginning of Section 3, the accepted definition of the greenhouse effect in the literature implies a complete identification of the absorption of infrared radiation and thermal energy. The question of the physical justification of this statement has never been raised in the literature on the greenhouse effect. Nevertheless, it makes sense to examine this problem in detail.

5.1. Which physical experiment confirms the heating of a gas due to the absorption of infrared radiation? - Popular literature on the greenhouse effect usually cites an experiment by Eunice Foote (1857), who found that in vessels containing ordinary air, humidified air, and carbon dioxide, all exposed to the sun, the temperature in the vessel containing ordinary air was lowest. Unfortunately, this brief publication did not

describe the details of the experiment and it has not been subsequently reproduced (for a description of similar experiments and references, see https://www.academia.edu/81698830/ABOUT_EXPERIMENTAL_PR OOF_OF_THE_GREENHOUSE_EFFECT ). No reliable physical experiment has been found to confirm that increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the air leads to an increase in temperature.

5.2. How do gases that do not absorb infrared radiation heat up? - The very fact that the Earth's atmosphere, consisting mainly of gases that do not absorb infrared radiation (nitrogen, oxygen, argon) heats up as a whole, is confirmed by everyday experience. Sometimes in the literature on the greenhouse effect one encounters an explanation of such heating by collisions of molecules of "infrared-active" and "infrared-inactive" gases with the transfer of energy. Without going into a physical analysis of such an explanation, it is enough to say that it contradicts such an indisputable fact as the possibility of heating any substance separately by any heat source.

In physics, heat transfer was described back in the 19th century in J.C. Maxwell's classic monograph "The Theory of Heat", it includes three processesconduction, convection and radiation [12, p. 10]. Conduction is defined as “the flow of heat through an unequally heated body from places of higher to places of lower temperature”. In relation to the heating of the atmosphere from the earth's surface, this means that the rate of heat transfer from gas molecules in direct contact with the surface to other molecules is determined by the thermal conductivity of the gas. The thermal conductivity values (mW/ m* K) of different gases, given in different sources, do not completely coincide, but they are close for nitrogen (27.7) and oxygen (28.3) and somewhat less for water vapor (19.9) and carbon dioxide (18.4). This means that H2O and CO2 heat up more slowly, but the possibility of absorbing heat through conduction is not excluded for them.

«Convection is the motion of the hot body itself carrying its heat with it». When heated by contact with a surface, the density of the gas decreases, and the warmer gas rises while the denser gas sinks. This method of heat transfer also applies to all gases and explains the heating of both "greenhouse" and "non-

greenhouse" gases in the atmosphere.

«In Radiation, the hotter body loses heat, and the colder body receives heat by means of a process occurring in some intervening medium which does not itself become thereby hot». When speaking about the heating of the atmosphere by radiation, it is necessary, in principle, to consider both the solar radiation falling on the earth and the radiation reflected by the surface and emitted by land and water. The problem is complicated by the fact that we essentially do not know what radiation creates the thermal effect. According to the basic principle of the greenhouse effect, formulated in the First IPCC Report (1990), "long-wave terrestrial radiation emitted by the warm surface of the Earth is partially absorbed and the re-emitted by a number of trace gases in the cooler atmosphere above” [13]. This means that incident solar radiation that heats the surface does not heat the atmosphere. To understand this, we need to learn more about thermal radiation.

5.3. What is the difference between heat radiation and infrared radiation?According to Max Planck [14, p. 3], “heat rays are identical with light of the same wavelength”. Since Planck used the term "light" to denote any electromagnetic radiation, this means that thermal radiation can correspond to radiation at any wavelength. Infrared radiation is assigned to a specific range of wavelengths from 0.75 µ to 1000 µ. Thus, we are talking about different concepts. In certain cases, the frequencies of thermal radiation and infrared radiation coincide, in other cases, the frequencies of thermal radiation are outside the infrared region of the spectrum.

Modern theory of the electromagnetic field, as well as Planck more than 100 years ago, do not establish a connection between the wavelength of radiation and its ability to create a thermal effect. Only a few facts are known.

High-energy X-rays, where the photon energy is at least 4 orders of magnitude higher than for infrared radiation, do not produce a thermal effect; this is known to anyone who has ever visited a dentist or undergone a clinical examination.

Such effective heating devices as microwave ovens are widely used in everyday life. The working wavelength of the emitter in them is about 10 cm. The

possibility of heating substances with such radiation was not predicted theoretically, but was discovered almost by accident: https://spectrum.ieee.org/a-brief-history-of-the-microwave-oven .

The ability of infrared radiation to transfer thermal energy to various bodies can be judged by the ranges of wavelengths in which infrared heaters of various types operate: ceramic (2-10 µ), quartz (1.5-8 µ) and quartz tungsten (1-1.6 µ) : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_heater . In this regard, information about the range of sensitivity of the sensors of devices that record the temperature of bodies by their IR radiation is also of interest. There are data on working intervals (µ) for 6 types of such infrared thermographic systems: 0.91.68, 1.0 – 5.4, 8-14, 8-10, 8-14, 3-5.

https://eta-publications.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/46590.pdf . It is interesting that the absorption band of carbon dioxide at 15 µ, which is accepted in the theory of the greenhouse effect as the most important, does not fall into any of the indicated range.

6. Conclusion

1) An analysis of the results of local temperature changes in different periods of time shows that the accuracy of these results is insufficient to make a statement about the global nature of changes in the temperature of the surface layer of the atmosphere and the Earth's surface.

2) There is no direct evidence of a causal relationship between changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and average temperatures.

3) The sharp difference between day and night temperatures in deserts is caused not by the low concentration of water vapor in the atmosphere, but by the thermophysical properties of sand.

4) The higher air temperature in the stratosphere compared to the tropophrase is explained not by the greenhouse properties of ozone, but by the exothermic reactions of its decay and interaction with other gases.

5) The number of gaseous substances in the atmosphere capable of absorbing infrared radiation is many times greater than the IPCC list. Due to the overlap of absorption bands, in most cases it is practically impossible to reliably estimate the contributions of various gases to the overall IR absorption spectrum.

6) The absorption bands of the main greenhouse gas CO2 are compared with the energy values of incident solar radiation and terrestrial radiation in the corresponding wavelength ranges. It turns out that the most intense band in the CO2 spectrum in the 4.3 μ region corresponds to the minimum energy of both incident and emitted radiation. The absorption band in the 15 μ region can cover less than 15% of the emitted radiation. This fact does not agree with the greenhouse effect theory's idea of the role of carbon dioxide in the absorption of energy emitted by the earth.

7) The greenhouse theory does not explain the obvious fact that the atmosphere as a whole absorbs heat. The Earth's atmosphere is mainly composed of gases that do not absorb infrared radiation. A simple explanation for this fact is that the main mechanisms for transferring heat from the earth's surface to the atmosphere are conduction and convection, and the amount of heat absorbed by the atmosphere is determined by the heat capacity of its components.

References

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