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Molar Mass Version of the Ideal Gas Law Points to a Very Low Climate Sensitivity

Received: 14 November 2017     Accepted: 24 November 2017     Published: 7 December 2017
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Abstract

It has always been complicated mathematically, to calculate the average near surface atmospheric temperature on planetary bodies with a thick atmosphere. Usually, the Stefan Boltzmann (S-B) black body law is used to provide the effective temperature, then debate arises about the size or relevance of additional factors, including the ‘greenhouse effect’. Presented here is a simple and reliable method of accurately calculating the average near surface atmospheric temperature on planetary bodies which possess a surface atmospheric pressure of over 10kPa. This method requires a gas constant and the knowledge of only three gas parameters; the average near-surface atmospheric pressure, the average near surface atmospheric density and the average mean molar mass of the near-surface atmosphere. The formula used is the molar version of the ideal gas law. It is here demonstrated that the information contained in just these three gas parameters alone is an extremely accurate predictor of atmospheric temperatures on planets with atmospheres >10kPa. This indicates that all information on the effective plus the residual near-surface atmospheric temperature on planetary bodies with thick atmospheres, is automatically ‘baked-in’ to the three mentioned gas parameters. Given this, it is shown that no one gas has an anomalous effect on atmospheric temperatures that is significantly more than any other gas. In short; there can be no 33°C ‘greenhouse effect’ on Earth, or any significant ‘greenhouse effect’ on any other planetary body with an atmosphere of >10kPa. Instead, it is a postulate of this hypothesis that the residual temperature difference of 33°C between the S-B effective temperature and the measured near-surface temperature is actually caused by adiabatic auto-compression.

Published in Earth Sciences (Volume 6, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.earth.20170606.18
Page(s) 157-163
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Climate Sensitivity, Climate Change, Global Warming, Venus Temperature, Greenhouse Effect, Temperatures of Planetary Atmospheres, Earth Temperature, Auto-Compression

References
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[6] Wikipedia, Properties of Earth’s atmosphere, (2017). Accessed 14/11/2017. https://en.wiki pedia.org/wiki/Density_of_air
[7] NASA fact sheet data on the planets, (2017). Accessed 14/11/2017 https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov /planetary/factsheet/
[8] Fulchignoni, M., Ferri, F., Angrilli, F., Ball, A. J., Bar-Nun, A., Barucci, M. A.,... & Coradini,, M. (2005). In situ measurements of the physical characteristics of Titan's environment. Nature, 438(7069), 785-791.
[9] Lindal, G. F., Wood, G., Hotz, H., Sweetnam, D., Eshleman, V., & Tyler, G. (1983). Theatmosphere of Titan: An analysis of the Voyager 1 radio occultation measurements. Icarus, 53(2), 348-363.
[10] IceCube Wise; Wis/Mad Uni. Accessed 13/11/2017 http://icecube.wisc.edu/pole/weather
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[16] Wood, R. W. (1909). XXIV. Note on the Theory of the Greenhouse. The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, 17(98), 319-320.
[17] Clough, S. A., Iacono, M. J., & Moncet, J. L. (1992). Line‐by‐line calculations of atmospheric fluxes and cooling rates: Application to water vapor. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 97(D14), 15761-15785.
[18] Khilyuk, L. (2003). Global warming: are we confusing cause and effect? Energy Sources, 25(4), 357-370.
[19] Feldman, D. R., Collins, W. D., Gero, P. J., Torn, M. S., Mlawer, E. J., & Shippert, T. R. (2015). Observational determination of surface radiative forcing by CO2 from 2000 to 2010. Nature, 519(7543), 339-343.
[20] Harde, H. (2014). Advanced Two-Layer Climate Model for the Assessment of Global Warming by CO2.
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    Robert Ian Holmes. (2017). Molar Mass Version of the Ideal Gas Law Points to a Very Low Climate Sensitivity. Earth Sciences, 6(6), 157-163. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20170606.18

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    Robert Ian Holmes. Molar Mass Version of the Ideal Gas Law Points to a Very Low Climate Sensitivity. Earth Sci. 2017, 6(6), 157-163. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20170606.18

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    AMA Style

    Robert Ian Holmes. Molar Mass Version of the Ideal Gas Law Points to a Very Low Climate Sensitivity. Earth Sci. 2017;6(6):157-163. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20170606.18

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  • @article{10.11648/j.earth.20170606.18,
      author = {Robert Ian Holmes},
      title = {Molar Mass Version of the Ideal Gas Law Points to a Very Low Climate Sensitivity},
      journal = {Earth Sciences},
      volume = {6},
      number = {6},
      pages = {157-163},
      doi = {10.11648/j.earth.20170606.18},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20170606.18},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.earth.20170606.18},
      abstract = {It has always been complicated mathematically, to calculate the average near surface atmospheric temperature on planetary bodies with a thick atmosphere. Usually, the Stefan Boltzmann (S-B) black body law is used to provide the effective temperature, then debate arises about the size or relevance of additional factors, including the ‘greenhouse effect’. Presented here is a simple and reliable method of accurately calculating the average near surface atmospheric temperature on planetary bodies which possess a surface atmospheric pressure of over 10kPa. This method requires a gas constant and the knowledge of only three gas parameters; the average near-surface atmospheric pressure, the average near surface atmospheric density and the average mean molar mass of the near-surface atmosphere. The formula used is the molar version of the ideal gas law. It is here demonstrated that the information contained in just these three gas parameters alone is an extremely accurate predictor of atmospheric temperatures on planets with atmospheres >10kPa. This indicates that all information on the effective plus the residual near-surface atmospheric temperature on planetary bodies with thick atmospheres, is automatically ‘baked-in’ to the three mentioned gas parameters. Given this, it is shown that no one gas has an anomalous effect on atmospheric temperatures that is significantly more than any other gas. In short; there can be no 33°C ‘greenhouse effect’ on Earth, or any significant ‘greenhouse effect’ on any other planetary body with an atmosphere of >10kPa. Instead, it is a postulate of this hypothesis that the residual temperature difference of 33°C between the S-B effective temperature and the measured near-surface temperature is actually caused by adiabatic auto-compression.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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    AU  - Robert Ian Holmes
    Y1  - 2017/12/07
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    JO  - Earth Sciences
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
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    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20170606.18
    AB  - It has always been complicated mathematically, to calculate the average near surface atmospheric temperature on planetary bodies with a thick atmosphere. Usually, the Stefan Boltzmann (S-B) black body law is used to provide the effective temperature, then debate arises about the size or relevance of additional factors, including the ‘greenhouse effect’. Presented here is a simple and reliable method of accurately calculating the average near surface atmospheric temperature on planetary bodies which possess a surface atmospheric pressure of over 10kPa. This method requires a gas constant and the knowledge of only three gas parameters; the average near-surface atmospheric pressure, the average near surface atmospheric density and the average mean molar mass of the near-surface atmosphere. The formula used is the molar version of the ideal gas law. It is here demonstrated that the information contained in just these three gas parameters alone is an extremely accurate predictor of atmospheric temperatures on planets with atmospheres >10kPa. This indicates that all information on the effective plus the residual near-surface atmospheric temperature on planetary bodies with thick atmospheres, is automatically ‘baked-in’ to the three mentioned gas parameters. Given this, it is shown that no one gas has an anomalous effect on atmospheric temperatures that is significantly more than any other gas. In short; there can be no 33°C ‘greenhouse effect’ on Earth, or any significant ‘greenhouse effect’ on any other planetary body with an atmosphere of >10kPa. Instead, it is a postulate of this hypothesis that the residual temperature difference of 33°C between the S-B effective temperature and the measured near-surface temperature is actually caused by adiabatic auto-compression.
    VL  - 6
    IS  - 6
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Author Information
  • Science & Engineering Faculty, Federation University, Mt Helen, Ballarat, Australia

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