[[Adding more CO2 to the atmosphere doesn’t change the fact that all the outgoing photons are absorbed.]]
Do you have something which shows all are absorbed? You yourself said some slip by without beign absorbed
Also- do you have evidence that all are converted to energy?
An even if all are absorbed and converted to ehat/energy- it’s still only 0.04% of the total atmosphere that gets absorbed and converted, and the surrounding MASS of atmospheric O2 molecules at lower temps works to cool them to an equilibrium state almost immediately- one o2 molecule becomes slightly warmer by the process, but the molecule next to it is cooler- and so it cools the one molecule down as does the process of entropy
[[The 0.04% is significant because there are so many molecules and 0.04% of a lot is still a lot of molecules.]]
Not when you are talking the volume we’re talking about- heck, not when you are talking about any volume- 0.04% of any volume isn’t enough to affect anything- Take a glass of water- 100 degrees- drop in 0.04% 105 degree water- it does nothing because there isn’t volume enough of the hotter water to do anything
IF there were a thick blanket of CO2 that made up I dunno- 40% of the atmosphere, we could make the argument that heat can not get past it I suppose (although there would still be the issue of saturation)-
0.04% is NOT a lot- Especially given the fact that we are talking the volume of atmosphere that we are- it is still just 0.04% of the atmosphere-
What is the tonnage of IR photons converted to energy/heat? While the CO2 may be constantly converting small amounts of photons to energy/heat, you also have to factor In the fact that there is constant cooling going on in the atmosphere as well, and that the amount of cooling is still 99.95% greater than the amount of warming- there’s just no way around this - Just like if you dump 0.04% hotter water into an Olympic sized pool- The cooling and entropy from outside sources simply overwhelms any slight effect that adding the warmer water could have-
This is why I think the argument of LTE is so important because it is only small isolated areas that would ‘slightly’ be affected BRIEFLY by adding warmth
[[That was a mistake. It absorbs them all only within certain bands:]]
Bands of what? All GHT’s? Water vapor, Methane etc? Isn’t CO2 the only one capable of converting ir photons to energy/heat? Whereas the other GHG’s simply absorb and retain briefly?
Also- do you have evidence that all are converted to energy? If they strike a CO2 molecule, and they are the right frequency, they push that molecule into one of three higher energy states.
it's still only 0.04% of the total atmosphere that gets absorbed and converted,
It is 100% of the outgoing photons that are in the right frequency bands to be absorbed by CO2.
0.04% of any volume isn't enough to affect anything- Take a glass of water- 100 degrees- drop in 0.04% 105 degree water-
Drop in 102 degree water molecules at a 0.04% concentration into water at 100 degrees and you raise the entire water temperature from 100 to 100.001 Do it again one second later and you have 100.002, etc. The IR photons keep on coming and will warm the atmosphere as long as the surface or lower atmosphere is warmer than higher up.
Bands of what? All GHT's? Water vapor, Methane etc? Isn't CO2 the only one capable of converting ir photons to energy/heat? Whereas the other GHG's simply absorb and retain briefly?
Sorry, should have explained that. Frequency bands. They are pictured like this:
This is a view from space of IR emitted from the earth;s surface. The notches are frequencies where photons are being absorbed by various molecules in the atmosphere. The overall shape is due to the blackbody radiative spectrum of various earth surface temperatures, but the notches are caused by specific molecules. As you can see, O2 also creates a notch. I had completely forgotten that O2 and N2 are also "greenhouse gases", but that is a fact, explained in this paper: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1029/2012GL051409/asset/grl29125.pdf?v=1&t=iirysn0v&s=cd95912488fed49f9ab101d20551181676ad1ef1