{"id":448803,"date":"2026-06-05T12:24:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T19:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=448803"},"modified":"2026-06-08T16:11:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T23:11:33","slug":"more-sun-less-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=448803","title":{"rendered":"More Sun, Less Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

Guest Post by <\/em><\/strong>Willis Eschenbach<\/a> (@WEschenbach on X, my personal blog is here<\/a>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, I had some further insights and questions about the issue of sunshine hours that I discussed in my last post<\/a>, but as is far too common on my planet, along the way I got seriously side-tractored, all the way over to the question of the atmospheric window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what is the atmospheric window when it\u2019s at home? It\u2019s the portion of the emitted thermal radiation in a range generally taken to be 8\u00b5m to 12\u00b5m. The curiosity of this \u201cwindow\u201d is that thermal radiation in this range mostly goes directly to space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Figure 1 shows the atmospheric window. This is from MODTRAN Infrared Light In The Atmosphere<\/a>, an online calculator of how much radiation makes it to space and how much is absorbed in the atmosphere<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Figure 1. The \u201catmospheric window\u201d is the area between the vertical red dotted lines at 8 microns (\u00b5m) and 12 microns. The amount of thermal radiation that would be making it to space at a given temperature is shown by the smooth colored lines. The solid blue line shows how much actually makes it to space under the given conditions (tropical atmosphere, no rain or clouds). You can see that the major absorption by \u201cgreenhouse\u201d gases occurs in the region centered at 15 microns.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So \u2026 how much of the upwelling radiation goes directly out to space? Well, some research showed that, to my surprise, the CERES dataset has both clear-sky and all-sky values for the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) upwelling longwave in the atmospheric window of 8-12 microns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My interest in this was to see how the amount of upwelling radiation that avoids the greenhouse gases has varied over time. Figure 2 shows those changes.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Figure 2. Changes in the radiation loss through the atmospheric window, 2000 \u2013 2024<\/em>. Seasonal variations have been removed to highlight the trend.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Having seen that, my next question was, how does this relate to the increase in upwelling surface radiation that accompanies the increase in temperature over that same period? Figure 3 shows that relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Figure 3. Scatterplot, loss through the atmospheric window versus changes in the surface upwelling longwave.<\/em> Seasonal variations have not been removed in either variable, to show the variation in the loss over a wider temperature range.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

What this says is that as the surface warms, a steady 20% of the increase in upwelling surface radiation goes out through the atmospheric window, and 80% is absorbed in the atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, how does all of this relate to the question of the sunshine hours? Well, I was using the sunshine hours as some kind of proxy for the albedo. Inter alia, I wanted to see what the relationship was between the available solar radiation (the amount of radiation making it past the albedo) and surface absorbed radiation. And to my great surprise, I found the following:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Figure 4. Anomalies, downwelling solar at the top of the atmosphere and at the surface.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As I pointed out in my previous post, we\u2019re getting more available solar radiation at the top of the atmosphere, and we\u2019re also getting more sunshine hours \u2026 but what surprised me was, over the last quarter century there\u2019s been no increase in solar radiation at the surface<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously, the difference is due to increased absorption of solar radiation in the atmosphere \u2026 and that meant that I needed to look at the changes in atmospheric absorption and what that means to various other climate parameters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, to close the circle, that is why I had to find out how much surface upwelling longwave was not absorbed in the atmosphere. To understand the radiation dynamics of the atmosphere, I need to understand all of the sources of radiation absorbed by the atmosphere \u2026 which will be the subject of my next post. Assuming, of course, that I learn something about the subject between now and then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Late night here in the forest, with the moon peeking above the horizon of this most awesome of planets. Next, I\u2019ll go outside, walk around a bit, and revel in the tree-filtered moonlight \u2026 best of life to each one of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

w.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, I\u2019ve Said It Before: <\/strong>When you comment, please quote the exact words you are discussing, so your subject is crystal clear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And what is the atmospheric window when it\u2019s at home? It\u2019s the portion of the emitted thermal radiation in a range generally taken to be 8\u00b5m to 12\u00b5m. The curiosity of this \u201cwindow\u201d is that thermal radiation in this range mostly goes directly to space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":448822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_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":[691829939,691843518,691830548,691818447,691834185],"class_list":["post-448803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-atmospheric-physics","tag-atmospheric-window","tag-ceres-clouds-and-the-earths-radiant-energy-system","tag-solar","tag-top-of-atmosphere-toa","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1SKL","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":369252,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=369252","url_meta":{"origin":448803,"position":0},"title":"R.I.P. Climate Back\u00a0Radiation","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/10\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"In connection with the greenhouse\u00a0effect,\u00a0the\u00a0second law of Thermodynamics\u00a0is particularly\u00a0interesting. \u00a0There are various equivalent\u00a0formulations for the second law of\u00a0thermodynamics which states that thermal\u00a0energy cannot be completely converted\u00a0into other forms of energy. \u00a0Rudolf\u00a0Clausius\u00a0was the first to formulate the\u00a0second\u00a0law in the form that heat does not flow\u00a0spontaneously from cold to hot\u00a0bodies.\u00a0\u00a0Later in 1865\u2026","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\/2025\/03\/0bg-05.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0bg-05.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0bg-05.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0bg-05.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0bg-05.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":393075,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=393075","url_meta":{"origin":448803,"position":1},"title":"Why Current GHG Effect is Simply Not\u00a0Scary","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/05\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The widespread explanations of the greenhouse effect taught to millions of schoolchildren are misleading. 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It is found that there are two contexts for the greenhouse gas effect.","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\/2025\/08\/AQPrHUoHmDf97P0mkTvoSxmm5WGMxGsQsnHp9BF5pYUk2SiHaylbzRLjxZrfvoPOEip6QHg3qMVg1ZSr-vG86X2TXW2PlkjJuhttdRv8zK-WGnQ_pYOCWK-68alF5kYqO-18NEflStwduRjwIJmK728cx4QJYw.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AQPrHUoHmDf97P0mkTvoSxmm5WGMxGsQsnHp9BF5pYUk2SiHaylbzRLjxZrfvoPOEip6QHg3qMVg1ZSr-vG86X2TXW2PlkjJuhttdRv8zK-WGnQ_pYOCWK-68alF5kYqO-18NEflStwduRjwIJmK728cx4QJYw.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AQPrHUoHmDf97P0mkTvoSxmm5WGMxGsQsnHp9BF5pYUk2SiHaylbzRLjxZrfvoPOEip6QHg3qMVg1ZSr-vG86X2TXW2PlkjJuhttdRv8zK-WGnQ_pYOCWK-68alF5kYqO-18NEflStwduRjwIJmK728cx4QJYw.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AQPrHUoHmDf97P0mkTvoSxmm5WGMxGsQsnHp9BF5pYUk2SiHaylbzRLjxZrfvoPOEip6QHg3qMVg1ZSr-vG86X2TXW2PlkjJuhttdRv8zK-WGnQ_pYOCWK-68alF5kYqO-18NEflStwduRjwIJmK728cx4QJYw.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AQPrHUoHmDf97P0mkTvoSxmm5WGMxGsQsnHp9BF5pYUk2SiHaylbzRLjxZrfvoPOEip6QHg3qMVg1ZSr-vG86X2TXW2PlkjJuhttdRv8zK-WGnQ_pYOCWK-68alF5kYqO-18NEflStwduRjwIJmK728cx4QJYw.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":369299,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=369299","url_meta":{"origin":448803,"position":2},"title":"Beyond CO\u2082: Unraveling the Roles of Energy, Water Vapor, and Convection in Earth\u2019s Atmosphere","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/10\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Fundamentally the entire man-made CO2\u00a0global warming concept, boils down to the interaction of energy and matter in Earth\u2019s atmosphere.\u00a0The only reason that CO2\u00a0and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) are special is that they absorb most of the radiation emitted by Earth\u2019s surface. Water vapor absorbs across almost the entire emission spectrum\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Atmospheric temperature\"","block_context":{"text":"Atmospheric temperature","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=atmospheric-temperature"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0view-edge-earth-atmosphere-layer.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0view-edge-earth-atmosphere-layer.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0view-edge-earth-atmosphere-layer.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0view-edge-earth-atmosphere-layer.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0view-edge-earth-atmosphere-layer.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":338550,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=338550","url_meta":{"origin":448803,"position":3},"title":"Experimental Proof Nil Warming from\u00a0GHGs","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/05\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Thomas Allmendinger is a Swiss physicist educated at Zurich ETH whose practical experience is in the fields of radiology and elemental particles physics. His independent research and experimental analyses of greenhouse gas (GHG) theory over the last decade led to several published studies, including the latest summation The Real Origin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon dioxide (CO2)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon dioxide (CO2)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-dioxide-co2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/075062-space-Earth-Sun-stars.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/075062-space-Earth-Sun-stars.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/075062-space-Earth-Sun-stars.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/075062-space-Earth-Sun-stars.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/075062-space-Earth-Sun-stars.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":369201,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=369201","url_meta":{"origin":448803,"position":4},"title":"Energy Imbalance Part II \u2013 An Addendum","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/09\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"First, there was some question about what a radiometer would see if pointed down at the surface. 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