Real Climate Science

The principle is :

Heat can only flow from a warmer place to a cooler place

The heat source is the sun. The sun irradiates the the Earth’s surface. As a first order principle, all of this heat has to return to space.

One of the things controlling the temperature is the efficiency of the atmosphere at returning the heat to space. If the atmosphere completely blocked the passage of heat, the earth’s surface would keep heating from solar radiation and get extremely hot. If the atmosphere provided no resistance to the passage of heat, the temperature would be cold.

Greenhouse gases are one of the factors which influence the atmosphere’s efficiency at returning the sun’s heat to the upper atmosphere, and thus help regulate the temperature of the atmosphere.

The heat source is the sun. Greenhouse gases are part of the thermostat. An increase in greenhouse gases will tend to raise the temperature near the surface, because they reduce the efficiency of the atmosphere at moving heat upwards through the lower levels of the atmosphere.

Now look at the principle again :

Heat can only flow from a warmer place to a cooler place

That is true, and it in no way supports the absolutely ridiculous claim that greenhouse gases can’t increase the temperature of the Earth’s surface. The heat source is the sun, which is continuously providing heat to the Earth. Of course the temperature can go up.

Don’t conflate heat flow and temperature. They are different beasts.

As to the actual total effect of adding CO2, that is an interesting, separate, and much more complex discussion,  A discussion which can’t be had while some skeptics are spreading complete bullshit claiming that greenhouse gases don’t exist.

If the atmosphere allowed solar energy in, but no energy out, – the Earth would keep getting hotter, and would eventually melt.

It is absolutely true that net heat flow is is always from a warmer location to a cooler location.

It is also absolutely true that in order to maintain a constant flow of heat,  an increase in temperature at the colder location has to be accompanied by an increase in temperature at the warmer location.

People who conflate the two principals are an embarrassment to skeptics. Don’t do that.

Climate scientists blame the high temperatures on Venus on the greenhouse effect.

Given that Venus surface receives very little sunlight, and that nights there are months long with no drop in temperature, it is absurd to compare the Venusian climate to a greenhouse.

Venus has a similar lapse rate to Earth, despite a very different atmospheric composition. This shows that the lapse rate is due to the pressure gradient, not the atmospheric composition.

Climate experts say that a wavy jet stream and harsh winters are caused by global warming.

There’s growing evidence that global warming is driving crazy winters

There’s growing evidence that global warming is driving crazy winters – The Washington Post

Forty years ago, climate experts used the same picture to prove global cooling.

Science News, Vol. 107

More recently, the IPCC said “mild winter temperatures will reduce heavy snowstorms”

IPCC Third Assessment Report – Climate Change 2001 – Complete online versions | GRID-Arendal – Publications – Other

IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Just in case you forgot for a minute that climate experts have absolutely no clue what they are talking about.

Some readers have determined that insulators can not increase the temperature of an object. So I guess they can wrap their automobile engine in thick fiberglass insulation, and expect that nothing bad will happen.

Fascinating science.

If you put your thumb over the end of the hose, the pressure at all points behind your thumb increases. Yet the water continues to flow the same direction. How can that possibly be?

ROFL

I am being bombarded with longwave radiation emitted by high concentrations of greenhouse gas H2O, and it feels great. Much better than the cold, dry air of Maryland last night.

Here are the rules :

1. Heat flows from warmer objects to cooler objects
2. Heat can not flow from a cooler object to a warmer object

Therefore, if the temperature of the cooler object increases – the only way to maintain the condition of rule 1 is for the temperature of  warmer object to also increase.

People are making the mistake of not understanding the difference between heat and temperature. The diffusive heat flow between a 30 degree location and a 20 degree location is the same as the diffusive heat flow between a 70 degree location and a 60 degree location.

BTW – I used to model heat flow for a living. Feel free to make a fool of yourself though.