The descriptive text from the video “Energy conversion in the atmosphere”
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Are CO2 emissions a threat to the climate? No. The static “warming” effect of incremental CO2 (~4W/m^2 for 2XCO2) disappears as kinetic energy (wind) is converted to/from internal energy (including temperature) + potential energy (height).
This time-lapse video shows the daily minimum, median and maximum values of the calculated hourly parameter “Vertical Integral of Energy Conversion” from the ERA5 reanalysis for 2022. Values are shown for each 1/4 degree longitude grid point at 45N latitude. The vertical scale ranges from -10,000 to +10,000 W/m^2. The small additional radiation absorption power of non-condensing greenhouse gases such as CO2, CH4 and N2O disappears on the vertical scale because the rapidly changing energy conversion is tens to thousands of times greater in both directions.
So what? The assumed greenhouse gas “forcings” cannot be isolated to enable reliable attribution of reported surface warming. And with all the circulation and energy conversion throughout the depth of the troposphere, thermal energy is not expected to accumulate on land and in the oceans and cause harmful effects through increasing non-condensing greenhouse gases. The greenhouse gases do not add energy to the land + ocean + atmosphere system. Therefore, the radiative properties of CO2, CH4 and N2O, as well as other molecules of a similar nature, should not be assumed to produce disruptive climate “forcing”. The concept of energy conversion helps us understand the self-regulating release of energy to high altitudes so that just enough long-wave radiation can be emitted into space.
References:
The ERA5 reanalysis model is a product of ECMWF, the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. The calculated parameters “Vertical integral of potential + internal energy” and “Vertical integral of energy conversion” are described under these links.
https://codes.ecmwf.int/grib/param-db/?id=162061
https://codes.ecmwf.int/grib/param-db/?id=162064
Further comment:
This only applies to a width band at 45N. Similar results were observed for 45S, 10N/S, 23.5N/S and 66N/S.
Further background information:
From Edward N. Lorenz (1960) “Energy and Numerical Weather Prediction”
https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusa.v12i4.9420
“2. Energy, available potential energy and
rough static stability
Of the various forms of energy present in
The atmosphere often has kinetic energy
received the most attention. Often the total
The kinetic energy of a weather system is considered
as a measure of its intensity. The only other one
forms of atmospheric energy that occur
play a large role in kinetic energy
Budget of the troposphere and lower stratosphere
are potential energy, internal energy and the
latent energy of water vapor. potential and
Internal energy can be converted directly
converted into kinetic energy, while latent energy can
be converted directly into internal energy,
which is then converted into kinetic energy.
This can be easily illustrated using hydrostatics
Approximation that the changes of the
potential energy P and the internal energy l of
of the entire atmosphere are approximately proportional,
so that it is comfortable to view
Potential and internal energy as constitutive
a single form of energy. This form was
called total potential energy by Margules (1903).
…
In the long term there must be net depletion
the kinetic energy through dissipative processes. It
It follows that there must be an equal network
Generation of kinetic energy through reversible
adiabatic processes; This generation must happen
at the expense of all potential energy. It
This in turn means that there must be an equal network
Production of all potential energy through heating
of all kinds. These three steps include the
basic energy cycle of the atmosphere. The
The speed at which these steps occur is fundamental
Characteristic of the general circulation.”
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