{"id":322648,"date":"2024-04-25T07:41:40","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T05:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=322648"},"modified":"2024-04-25T07:41:42","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T05:41:42","slug":"3-physicists-use-experimental-evidence-to-show-co2s-capacity-to-absorb-radiation-has-saturated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=322648","title":{"rendered":"\u00a03 Physicists Use Experimental Evidence To Show CO2\u2019s Capacity To Absorb Radiation Has Saturated"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Symbol CO2 from clouds on blue sky<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

From NoTricksZone<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Kenneth Richard<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adding CO2 to the atmosphere can have no significant climatic effect when rising above the threshold of about 300 ppm. Due to saturation, higher and higher concentrations do not lead to any further absorption of radiation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If one were to paint a white surface black so as to allow it to absorb as much heat as possible, it is well known the first layer of paint has the most dominant impact on heat absorption. A second coat covers up any remaining grayish color and perhaps a few spots missed on the first layer. By the third layer, there is effectively no more heat absorption that can be attained with the additional coat, as the surface is saturated in black. It cannot become blacker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three Polish physicists have focused their attention on this saturation principle as it applies to CO2 in three recently published papers (Kubicki et al., 2024<\/a><\/strong>, 2022<\/a><\/strong>, and 2020<\/a><\/strong>). Their latest (Kubicki et al., 2024<\/a><\/strong>), published in Applications in Engineering Science<\/em>, summarizes the experimental evidence from their 2020 and 2022 publications substantiating the conclusion that \u201cas a result of saturation processes, emitted CO2 does not directly cause an increase in global temperature.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom the conducted considerations, it follows that both in Eq. (4) and Eq. (6), the value of absorption is limited. In the first case, it cannot exceed 1, and in the second case, it cannot exceed the value of \u03c8 less than unity. Therefore, for a sufficiently large mass m, saturation must occur, and further increase in mass will result in a negligible increase in absorption.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This research adds another layer to more than 50 years of research on the CO2 saturation principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSchack (1972<\/a><\/strong>)\u2026demonstrated that for a concentration of 0.03% of carbon dioxide in the air, the absorption process in the troposphere is saturated.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors are concerned about the recent push to rely on modeling and assumptions about CO2\u2019s capacity to drive changes in global temperature rather than observational evidence. They point out the current CO2-is-the-climate-control-knob zeitgeist is no more than a hypothesis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis unequivocally suggests that the officially presented impact of anthropogenic CO2 increase on Earth\u2019s climate is merely a hypothesis rather than a substantiated fact.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Image Source:\u00a0Kubicki et al., 2024<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In their 2022 paper<\/a><\/strong> the authors showed that at 400 ppm the CO2 concentration can no longer cause any increase in temperature, as no more absorption of thermal radiation can occur due to saturation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026the experiment described in articles [5] an [6] was carried out, where it was shown that thermal radiation from the hot surface of the Moon, after passing through the Earth\u2019s atmosphere, is not absorbed in carbon dioxide. Thus, it was shown for this radiation there is a complete saturation of the process.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt can be seen that practically with the mass of carbon dioxide of about 1.5 kg\/m\u00b2, the process of absorption of thermal radiation goes into saturation\u2026 So, for the current concentration of 400 ppm for which the mass of CO2 in the atmosphere is ~6 kg\/m\u00b2, the limit is four times exceeded.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThus, it can be presumed that the carbon dioxide additionally emitted into the atmosphere does not absorb thermal radiation and thus is not a greenhouse gas.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Image Source:\u00a0Kubicki et al., 2022<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In their 2020 paper<\/a><\/strong> the three physicists reported their experimental evidence can \u201cdisprove [the] general theorem\u201d that increasing the concentration of absorbing gases will \u201ccause strong increase of the absorption of the infrared radiation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their experiment they found that there was no difference (120.9 vs. 121.0 \u03bcW) in the power of air, with 0.04% CO2, to absorb infrared radiation versus the capacity of 100% CO2 to absorb radiation due to the saturation effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Image Source:\u00a0Kubicki et al., 2020<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Recently, other scientists (Chen et al., 2023<\/a><\/strong>) also reported that CO2 has a severely reduced effect on atmospheric transmissivity due to (a) absorption saturation (CO2 can have no effect beyond a pre-industrial concentration), and because (b) water vapor and cloud forcing overlap and thus dominate absorption in CO2\u2019s band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201c[Transmissivity] in the CO2 band center is unchanged by increased CO2 as the absorption is already saturated\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[T]he water vapor and CO2 overlapping at an absorbing band prevents absorption by additional CO2.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Image Source:\u00a0Chen et al., 2023<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Physicist Dieter Schildknecht (2020<\/a><\/strong>) also reported on the saturation of the CO2 impact once it reaches 300 ppm concentrations, concluding that because of this saturation further CO2 increases \u201ccannot affect the earth\u2019s climate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThe absorption reaches values close to 100% for a realistic CO2 content of 0.03%, [so] it is concluded that any further increase of (anthropogenic) CO2 cannot lead to an appreciably stronger absorption of radiation, and consequently cannot affect the earth\u2019s climate.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Image Source:\u00a0Schildknecht, 2020<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Easterbrook also illustratively referenced the saturation effect in research<\/a><\/strong> published in 2016, calculating the effect of a 80 ppm increase in CO2 as only about 0.01\u00b0C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notice on the pie chart there is almost no detectable change after the CO2 concentration has reached ~240 ppm.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Image Source:\u00a0Easterbrook, 2016<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In the 1970s, before the anthropogenic global warming narrative had evolved into what it is today, it was common for scientists to admit the CO2 radiative impact is already saturated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Weare and Snell (1974)<\/a><\/strong>, doubling of the CO2 concentration was thought to lead to a global surface temperature increase of 0.7 K, but a six-fold increase (~2,000 ppm) would only raise temperature 1.0 K more \u201cdue to saturation of the 15 \u03bcm band.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Per\u00a0Rasool and Schneider (1971)<\/a><\/strong>, increasing the CO2 concentration 10-fold (over 3,000 ppm) would not increase temperatures more than 2.5\u00b0C \u201cbecause the 15 \u03bcm band \u2018saturates\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Image Source:\u00a0Weare and Snell, 1974<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Rasool and Schneider, 1971<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Other scientists at the time estimated that when increasing CO2 \u201cseven times the normal concentrations, the average temperature increase is about 1\u00b0C\u201d (Zdunkowski et al., 1975<\/a><\/strong>), or that doubled CO2 concentrations lead to 0.30\u00b0C warming, but quadrupled CO2 (~1250 ppm) leads to just 0.48\u00b0C warming (Gates et al., 1981<\/a><\/strong>). Again, this is due to the saturation effect.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Image Source:\u00a0Zdunkowski et al., 1975<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0\u00a0Gates et al., 1981<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adding CO2 to the atmosphere can have no significant climatic effect when rising above the threshold of about 300 ppm. Due to saturation, higher and higher concentrations do not lead to any further absorption of radiation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":322667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691828331,691818076,691818288,691828332],"class_list":{"0":"post-322648","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-absorption-of-radiation","9":"tag-co2","10":"tag-global-temperature","11":"tag-heat-absorption","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/00iStock-976912100.jpg?fit=3600%2C2400&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1lW0","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":357155,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=357155","url_meta":{"origin":322648,"position":0},"title":"Another Climate Sensitivity Study Finds Doubling CO2 Leads To 0.5\u00b0C Warming at Most","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"21\/12\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"In a\u00a0new study, seven Viennese researchers provide more evidence the CO2 absorption band is already saturated at today\u2019s concentrations (over 400 ppm). Rising CO2 levels thus cannot drive significant global warming.","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-dioxide-co%e2%82%82"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0clouds-over-ocean-wc.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0clouds-over-ocean-wc.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0clouds-over-ocean-wc.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0clouds-over-ocean-wc.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0clouds-over-ocean-wc.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":358601,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=358601","url_meta":{"origin":322648,"position":1},"title":"Science Shock: CO2 is Good for the Planet, Peer-Reviewed Studies Suggest","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"25\/12\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Dramatic evidence has been published in a number of recent science papers that carbon dioxide levels are already\u00a0\u2018saturated\u2019, meaning little or no further warming is to be expected, and rising CO2\u00a0levels are all beneficial.","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-dioxide-co%e2%82%82"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Screenshot-2024-12-23-202651.jpeg?fit=1200%2C707&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Screenshot-2024-12-23-202651.jpeg?fit=1200%2C707&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Screenshot-2024-12-23-202651.jpeg?fit=1200%2C707&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Screenshot-2024-12-23-202651.jpeg?fit=1200%2C707&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Screenshot-2024-12-23-202651.jpeg?fit=1200%2C707&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":323585,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=323585","url_meta":{"origin":322648,"position":2},"title":"New Scientific Evidence That CO2 Emissions Can\u2019t Warm Atmosphere Because it is \u201cSaturated\u201d Published in Peer-Reviewed Journal","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"26\/04\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Further scientific evidence has emerged to suggest that the Earth\u2019s atmosphere is \u2018saturated\u2019 with carbon dioxide, meaning that at higher levels the \u2018greenhouse\u2019 gas will not cause temperatures to rise. 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