Experimental Proof

The amount of heat absorbed by CO₂ as radiation passes through it, or is reflected back to the ground from the atmosphere cannot be measured with any precision in samples small enough to fit into a laboratory. The atmosphere warms as light beams are passed through it- but tends to rise and be blown away as it does so. The heating of CO₂ in the atmosphere also depends on geothermal heat radiated out to space, varying quantities of new heat, CO₂ and moisture added to the atmosphere by burning fuels, and the absorption spectra of other gasses in it. The overall impression is that CO₂'s greenhouse effect depends largely on smoke, mirrors and bristlecone pines

It would be of interest to compare the amount of Q trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse effects, and that added to it by the energy industry. Atmospheric CO₂ has increased by about 100 parts per million since 1870. The weight of the atmosphere at sea level is about 10 tons per m². The added weight of the CO₂ above one m² is thus about 1 kg. A kg of CO₂ occupies about 1 m³ under normal conditions. It would be relevant to place a 1m thick layer of CO₂ in sunlight to see how much Q (in kWh) is absorbed in it per day . This could be done by placing photovoltaic panels, or solar water heaters, above, and below, such a layer, and measuring power yields or T gains during the day.

CO₂'s increased greenhouse gas effect could be deduced similarly by passing sunlight through a 1m thick layer of CO₂, then CO_2-less air below it, reflecting the sunlight off the earth back through the CO₂ layer to measure the heat trapped below the CO₂. Effects of the transparent material used to contain the CO₂ would be factored out by running the experiments with dry air instead of CO₂. CO₂'s warming effect could then be extrapolated for the entire earth and compared with anthropogenic Q inputs. Such simple experiments would probably reveal that CO₂'s contribution to global warming is negligible and, in any case, greatly clarify the global warming debate. Why has this not been done?