Will Making Cows Extinct ‘Save The Planet’?

Written by Bob Webster on June 20, 2023. Posted in Current News

What makes killing cows even more insane is that the political world has taken the word of (UN-IPCC) charlatans who claim methane (cow farts, natural gas) is a “powerful greenhouse gas” that is capable of dramatically warming Earth’s climate

Yet, back in the real world…

1.  Methane is not remotely capable of warming Earth’s climate.  It is literally “blind” to most wavelengths of IR emitted from Earth’s surface as it attempts to cool.

2.  The term “greenhouse gas” is … way they claim it does.

3.  The expression “runaway greenhouse effect” is utter nonsense that displays a complete ignorance of the science of atmospheric warming.  Such an effect is scientifically impossible.

Yet, here we are, allowing noise media reports to infuse such “climate change” ignorance into every noise report about anything just to keep the narrative alive.

It has reached the point where some “young skulls full of mush” are actually worried about the future of Earth because of the imminent “climate change” catastrophe claimed to be caused humans who eat beef, drink and eat dairy products, use petroleum-fueled transportation for moving people and goods, and get their electricity from petroleum power generation!  Insane indeed!

The noise media’s insane proposition is built upon a foundation of ignorance.

For those who may not understand, the following describes the science:

There are three charts in the graphic (Figure B-1) below.

Bottom chart shows wavelengths of the IR (infrared) spectrum at which molecules of major atmospheric gases “see” the IR (by “see” is meant, the gas molecules will resonate from interaction with the IR and thus “warm” the molecule).

Bear in mind that as soon as the molecule resonates (warms) the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics dictates that it will attempt to cool (settle back down) by reradiating omnidirectionally… in all directions, not just back toward Earth’s surface.

If the stimulating IR is removed, the gas molecules will settle down (cool) by releasing the heat stimulated by the IR.   The gas is totally “blind” to IR at wavelengths other than those few to which it resonates.

Now, note in the bottom chart just how dominant water vapor (H2O, colored sky blue) is in its ability to absorb outbound IR across most wavelengths.  Note also that carbon dioxide (CO2, colored tan), while not nearly as dominant as water vapor has several wavelengths where it “sees” and will resonate to IR.

But methane (CH4, colored olive), aka, cow farts, natural gas, etc., while not totally blind to IR, sees it dimly over very few wavelengths of the IR.

The middle chart shows the capability of these various atmospheric gases to absorb (and scatter) different wavelengths of the IR.

But the most important chart is the top one that shows the wavelengths of IR given off by Earth’s surface as it attempts to cool (“Upgoing Thermal Radiation”).

Note the UV wavelengths at the far left of the chart, invisible to the human eye; visible light wavelengths (longer) to the right of the UV; and to the right of the visible, the longest wavelengths of the broad IR spectrum dominating most of the chart, all of the IR being invisible to the human eye.

Wavelengths are shown in micrometers, aka, “microns”.  The red shaded area of the top chart represents where most IR from Earth’s cooling attempt escapes to space uninhibited by atmospheric gas absorption.

That red area is the inverse of the white area in the middle chart in the vicinity of 8 to 12 microns.  The blue line shows the dominant distribution of wavelengths of the IR given off by Earth’s attempt to cool.  Below 4 microns and above 60 microns there is too little IR given off by Earth to have any impact.

Note in the middle chart the contribution of CO2 to atmospheric warming is limited to roughly the region between 13 and 18 microns (𝜇m) where water vapor also has a significant effect.

Early in the Industrial Revolution, the amount an additional 20 ppm CO2 added to the atmosphere would warm Earth’s atmosphere was about 0.02˚C (one tenth of the first level shown in the chart above).

Today if an additional 20 ppm of CO2 were added to the atmosphere the warming created would be less than half what it was in the late 18th century, about 0.0082˚C. This is known as the diminishing effect of adding more CO2 to the atmosphere.

As an atmospheric warming gas, CO2 has basically run its course. If atmospheric CO2 concentration doubled to 840 ppm (most plants evolved at or above that level), that doubling would not significantly impact global climate (and plants would love it, growing more rapidly).

It is worth pondering what these charts reveal about the impact on Earth’s global average surface temperature if all the water vapor were removed from its atmosphere?

These observations of the science are confirmed by the recorded evidence (geological) that reveals the average atmospheric CO2 over the past half-billion years has been 2147 ppm.

Today’s atmospheric concentration of CO2 is dramatically below the average and near starvation levels for plants… the same plants that provide a continuous supply of oxygen for all animals to breath!

That recorded evidence also reveals that the correlation between changing atmospheric CO2 and changing global average surface temperature (GAST) is 0.10, i.e., there is no correlation between changing atmospheric CO2 and changing GAST.

No correlation means no causation is possible.

So not only does the “science” conclusively prove that growing atmospheric CO2 is NOT a meaningful ‘climate change’ force, the recorded evidence (geologic) of the past half billion years confirms it.

Q.E.D.

About the author: Bob Webster is author of the book Looking out the Window: Are Humans Really Responsible for Changing Climate? His lifelong interest in meteorology and climatology spurred his strong interest in science. Bob earned his degree in Mathematics at Virginia Tech, graduating in 1964.

Please note: PSI does not necessarily endorse the views of each and every article we publish. Our intention is to encourage open, honest, scientific debate.

Header image: Financial Times

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