Humidity And Temperature

The US is cold right now, largely due to very dry air. Note that dew points are below 0C across almost the entire country. This has two effects – it reduces the greenhouse effect, and reduces the amount of heat being generated from condensation.

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Now compare vs. Saudi Arabia, which has much higher humidity with dew points in the 10-20 C range.

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And Australia which has dew points in the 10-30C range.

imagefetch (1)Middle East Weather Map – Current Dew Points of the Middle East – Find Local Weather

Also note that reduced temperature further reduces the amount of longwave radiation being generated by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

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Greenhouse Effect Of Water Vapor

The graph below shows how the greenhouse effect varies with humidity during the mid-latitude summer. As you can see, there is a huge increase in downwelling longwave radiation going from no water vapor to 1% water vapor (10,000 PPM.) A little bit of humidity goes a long way towards keeping the surface warm.

One of the reasons why Antarctica is so cold is that there is very little water vapor in the interior of the continent, so little heat reaches the surface from the atmosphere. Likewise, Mars is very cold despite a large amount of CO2 in its atmosphere, due to the low atmospheric pressure and lack of water vapor.

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Also note that you can’t actually go above 40,000 PPM because the air becomes saturated.

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Many Skeptics Are Just As Bad As Alarmists

I am trying to explain the most basic concepts of science related to the climate debate here, and am getting an incredible amount of push back from some skeptics. This doesn’t bode well for winning the debate.

Ignorance and arrogance from some makes our side look arrogant and ignorant.

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US Short On Greenhouse Gases Tonight

One of the reasons why the US is record cold tonight, is because of a shortage of greenhouse gases to hold the temperature up – as seen in this Weatherbell map.

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Supplementary Material For Loudmouthed Dummies

This is where I will be in the tropics next week. The sun is below the horizon for 12 hours a day.

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This is the North Pole in summer. The sun stays at the same elevation all day.

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Is the sun higher in the sky in the tropics for most of the 24 hour period, or at the pole?

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GOP Punished For The Federal Shutdown

The experts at CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, and all the other communist news agencies told us that the voters were very angry at the GOP for the government shutdown last fall.

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Basic Science For Dummies

At midsummer, the poles receive the most solar insolation of any place on Earth. This is because the sun is higher in the sky for most of the 24 hour day at the pole, than it is in the tropics.

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Climate and Earth’s Energy Budget : Feature Articles

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If You Believe That Democrats Conspired To Lie About Obamacare, You Are Just A Gruber

President Obama says there is no such thing as a conspiracy.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGAdrQ2RpdM]

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Reader Quiz

Which location has more water vapor in the air?

  • Location A – 90% relative humidity
  • Location B – 20% relative humidity
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What Is The Purpose Of A Greenhouse?

The purpose of a greenhouse, is to emulate the climate of the tropics.

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The tropics are very warm, largely because of the high concentration of greenhouse gases there. During June, the Arctic receives more solar insolation than the tropics, yet is much colder. Why is that?

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