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>> The water already present in the atmosphere absorbs almost all IR radiation > This does not seem to be correct. The earth's is gaining a significant amount
by dozzie 12y ago
>> The water already present in the atmosphere absorbs almost all IR radiation
> This does not seem to be correct. The earth's is gaining a significant amount of energy from the sun. [...]
Right. It should be: "the water already present in the atmosphere absorbs almost all IR radiation on wavelengths for CO_2, methane and water itself".
Adding more methane or CO_2 will not cause more radiation be absorbed, because there is nothing left to be absorbed.
- seanflyon 12y agoThat is a reasonable sounding argument, much more reasonable than I expected before looking into it. I also came across explanations such as this one: http://clivebest.com/blog/?p=1169 http://clivebest.com/blog/?p=1169 which explains why increased CO2 will still increase the greenhouse effect. An appeal to authority is not the strongest argument, but there is a near universal consensus among the scientific community that increased CO2 will increase the greenhouse effect.