How are we scared of the greenhouse effect and how dangerous is it for the Earth?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

We all know from the media that we are now observing incomprehensible things with the weather, and that global warming is allegedly taking place, and the greenhouse effect is blamed for everything, and most importantly, what they are trying to convince us of is that the greenhouse effect is bad.

To understand what the greenhouse effect is, we first need to understand the source of heat and light on our planet.

The most basic source of light and heat for the Earth is our star - the Sun.

In second place is the geothermal activity of the planet itself.

The third is the radioactive decay of isotopes and the burning of fossil fuels. But the third type of energy sources are, so to speak, derived from the Sun.

It should be noted here that now, and in the past, and in the future, life on Earth is possible exclusively due to the greenhouse effect.

The average temperature on the Earth's surface is 15 ° -17 ° C. The highest temperature on record on our planet was plus 70.7 ° C in the Lut Desert, Iran in 2005.

The lowest temperature recorded on Earth was in the area of the Vostok base, Antarctica - minus 89.2 ° C.

If there were no greenhouse effect, the planet's surface would have cooled down to the temperature of space - minus 270, 425 ° С, immediately after sunset. Let us remember this moment, this is important.

And now to the essence of the greenhouse effect itself. "Greenhouse gases" act like a blanket, and retain in the atmosphere the planet's heat, both coming from the Sun and reflected by the Earth's surface, and internal heat, preventing the planet from cooling down too quickly. It is the greenhouse effect that creates the conditions for the development and prosperity of life on Earth. With this, everything is clear and no one argues with this.

And what are these “greenhouse gases” that cause the greenhouse effect?

And this is where the fun begins. From TV screens and from the Internet, they broadcast to us about an increase in the level of CO2 and methane, even cows were blamed for this, as well as freon, which destroys the ozone layer. And the reason for the increased emission of CO2, methane and freon is technogenic human activity. I do not want to diminish the scale of environmental problems in any way.

Yes, there is pollution, and this pollution is very impressive, but there is always one BUT … Many people forget about water when listing the list of greenhouse gases. More precisely about water vapor. According to the Geographic Portal, the volume of ice and snow on land is 25.8 million cubic kilometers in water equivalent (that is, that much water will be obtained if the ice is melted). Now imagine that all this mass of water evaporates. Where will she go, evaporated? Right. Will rise into the atmosphere.

Now the content of water vapor in the atmosphere is 12,900 cubic kilometers in water equivalent (according to the same source).

Atmospheric pressure is 1 kilogram per square centimeter.

The mass of the atmosphere is 5, 1x1018 kg

If all the water present on the land surface in the form of ice and snow turns out to be in the atmosphere, then the mass of the atmosphere will increase to 3.09x1019 kg, or 6.06 times. The atmospheric pressure will rise by about the same amount.

And yet - studies of the processes of absorption and reflection of light and heat in the atmosphere have shown that water vapor is the main greenhouse gas, the role of methane and carbon dioxide is orders of magnitude smaller.

The following picture turns out:

Since the H2O (water) molecule is lighter than O2 (oxygen) or N2 (nitrogen), the bulk of the water would be in the upper layers, and at the bottom - practically the same air. That is, a water-steam dome is formed above the atmosphere.

The average surface temperature will rise by 10 ° - 15 ° C. I emphasize - average, i.e. in the Polar region it will be much warmer than it is now, and near the equator it will probably be cooler. Due to the higher heat capacity of the atmosphere, annual and seasonal changes will decrease, and therefore storms will disappear, and the climate will, on average, become closer to the subtropics - comfortable, a more humid atmosphere at higher pressure distributes the temperature at the surface better, but not a steam room - the absolute humidity is how much water is in a cube of air), and the relative is lower (this is the ratio of what is contained in the same cube of air to what can fit in it at a given temperature and pressure). Due to the higher content of water vapor (almost 2000 times more than today), such an atmosphere will be warmed up by itself due to the absorption of infrared radiation from the Sun and the Earth's surface.

We remember pilots and climbers. The higher they climb, the harder it is to breathe and the greater the dose of radiation they receive.

This is not because, as we are told, the oxygen content decreases with altitude. The percentage of air parts is unchanged over the entire height. The pressure of the atmosphere changes, and with increasing altitude, the body needs to make more efforts to breathe.

If at sea level, atmospheric pressure is equal to 760 mm Hg, but already at an altitude of 5000 meters, the pressure drops to 405 mm Hg, a person already has a heaviness in the head, drowsiness, nausea, and sometimes loss of consciousness. Such symptoms are characteristic of oxygen starvation, which is caused by a lower oxygen content in the air compared to its normal content at sea level. Hence the belief that the oxygen content decreases with altitude. I repeat again, the amount of oxygen inhaled decreases due to a decrease in air pressure, but the percentage of oxygen is the same in relation to other gases that make up the air.

As you already understood, it is enough to lower the pressure just below the current norm for the organisms of people to stop receiving enough oxygen for normal life. And to live like climbers on Everest is possible, but not for long and not happily. A decrease in the thickness of the atmosphere increases its transparency for solar radiation, plus changes in conditions (atmospheric pressure, temperature, daily drops), plus possible radiation exposure and sunburn, will definitely cause a decrease in immunity and epidemics of various infections.

In turn, an increase in atmospheric pressure will cause the exact opposite effect. Less solar radiation will fall on the surface, which will cause a decrease in cancer and a general weakening of the body. There will be longer daylight hours due to scattering, softer lighting, due to increased pressure - better gas exchange through the skin and respiratory organs, it is easier to breathe, respectively, the possibility of life for plants, people and animals will improve. An example is treatment with increased pressure in a pressure chamber, because with an increase in pressure, the solubility of gases in the blood increases.

Here you need to understand that these opportunities open up to us exclusively with the natural formation of the greenhouse effect, due to the evaporation of a huge amount of water. Emissions of methane by animals and CO2 by humans, with such volumes of water, practically does not play a role. For the greenhouse effect, a simple relationship operates - due to atmospheric heat - moisture evaporates into the atmosphere, water vapor in the atmosphere causes an increase in the temperature of the atmosphere and even more evaporation of moisture. This is the pure greenhouse effect. And there is no need to fear that in this way all the moisture will evaporate and the Earth will turn into Venus. Not at all. If you do not interfere with the process, then nature regulates itself. The possibility of the content of water vapor in the atmosphere is great, but not infinite (the word "infinitely" is written in this way not by chance, in one of the following articles, an explanation will be given).

With an increase in the amount of vapor in the atmosphere, atmospheric pressure increases, and the outer dimensions of the atmosphere will also increase, which will cause an increase in the area of heat transfer to space. And water vapor, having lost thermal energy, will turn back into water and rain down on the Earth. In the end, an equilibrium point will come at which the amount of moisture evaporated from the planet's surface will be equal to the amount of moisture that precipitated back to the surface.

If my version is correct, then global warming is a return to normalcy - the so-called "antediluvian" - the melting of glaciers and the escape of water into the atmosphere.

Thus, having melted and evaporated all ice and snow from all mountains, from Antarctica, Greenland, Siberia, Canada and from the North Pole, we will get atmospheric pressure 6 times higher than the present. The pressure of the glaciers on the tectonic plates will decrease, and cities such as St. Petersburg and Venice, and many others, will rise from the water.

With this amount of moisture in the atmosphere (and this is fresh water), there will be no dry regions on Earth. In the Sahara, there will again be an opportunity to farm and full-flowing rivers will flow.

The irrigation problem will disappear. True, more attention will have to be paid to land reclamation in order to prevent swamping of territories.

It turns out that global warming brings with it an increase in moisture content in the atmosphere with a more uniform climate, not flooding, but the emergence of additional territories suitable for comfortable living and farming, an increase in plant biomass and the disappearance of the threat of hunger, as well as the disappearance of the threat of high CO2 content in atmosphere. It is also possible to increase life expectancy, due to improved gas exchange with increasing pressure. Also, the reduction of the cosmic radiation background, due to the additional steam jacket in the atmosphere (as you know, water is a good protection against radiation).

Do we have any evidence of the greenhouse effect in the past? Yes, as much as you like. Look at the sculptures. Show me at least one sculpture in a fur coat, felt boots, a fur hat, on a sleigh or on skis, except modern ones.

All sculptures of the past depict people dressed in light tunics, sandals and chariots. And there were also vineyards in Karelia and on the White Sea, the Solovetsky Monastery is known, among other things, for its long-standing traditions of viticulture on rocky terraces, as well as the monastery gardens on the island of Valaam. There are also maps of the Sahara for 1795 and earlier, legends of the peoples of Africa about flourishing cities, where there is now a desert. Indirect confirmation of the fact that 200 years ago the climate was milder and warmer can be found, for example, in A. S. Pushkin: Eugene Onegin, chapter five

That year the autumn weather

I stood in the yard for a long time

Winter was waiting, nature was waiting.

Snow fell only in January"

It seems to me that the author did not accidentally insert a footnote on the weather. Reading these lines, and further, one gets the impression that such weather was the norm for that time. At least I did not see any displeasure, irritation or indignation. There was no clear indication that this was some kind of phenomenon out of the ordinary.

If conspiracy theories about a global conspiracy against humanity are correct, then it is logical to expect any efforts to prevent global warming, up to and including attempts to arrange a small nuclear winter.

And if information about the coming warming and its consequences is known at the top, then the interest in the circumpolar territories and shelves acquires a deeper meaning, just as the increased interest in airship building - in a denser atmosphere, airships are more profitable than airplanes.

And wars for the territories of today's deserts are not only wars for minerals, but for future territories for habitation.

I would also like to mention salt. It turns out that salt intake is vital for humans, birds and animals to maintain osmotic pressure. Simply put, there is intercellular and intracellular pressure, and to maintain these pressures at an equal level, the body needs salt. The relationship between atmospheric and osmotic pressure has been scientifically proven, and nowadays it manifests itself in the form of "meteosensitivity" in many people. You can read more about this connection here.

Friends, if you are interested in this article, I propose to watch a film on it, and personally plunge into the atmosphere of research:

On this, I do not say goodbye to you, there is still a lot of interesting things ahead.

See you in the following articles. The topic will be continued. All the best, goodbye!