{"id":289330,"date":"2023-11-30T13:44:55","date_gmt":"2023-11-30T12:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=289330"},"modified":"2023-11-30T13:44:58","modified_gmt":"2023-11-30T12:44:58","slug":"energy-in-the-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=289330","title":{"rendered":"Energy In The Air"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TL;DR<\/strong>: Ramanathan proposed that the \u201cgreenhouse effect\u201d could be measured as surface upwelling longwave minus top-of-atmosphere (TOA) upwelling longwave. However, this ignores the contributions to TOA upwelling longwave from 1) atmospheric absorption of solar energy, and 2) surface-to-atmosphere net energy transfer of latent heat of evaporation\/condensation and sensible heat. In addition, it also ignores variation in the proportion of upwelling and downwelling energy loss from the atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

In the seminal paper \u201cThermodynamic regulation of ocean warming by cirrus clouds deduced from observations of the 1987 El Nino<\/a>\u201d by V. Ramanathan & W. Collins, the authors proposed that we could measure the amplitude of the poorly-named \u201cgreenhouse effect\u201d directly. They said it was the upwelling longwave energy radiated by the surface, minus the amount leaving the top of the atmosphere. The difference, they reasoned, would be the amount of longwave radiation absorbed by the so-called \u201cgreenhouse gases\u201d in the atmosphere, principally water vapor and carbon dioxide. And this method of measurement of the \u201cgreenhouse effect\u201d has become the general practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sounds good, and I\u2019ve used that definition without really thinking about it \u2026 but closer examination reveals that there are two problems with Ramanathan\u2019s method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, upwelling longwave radiation is not the only source of energy flowing through the atmosphere. Energy enters the atmosphere from three distinct sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n