Earth Sciences

| Peer-Reviewed |

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

Received: 14 November 2017    Accepted: 24 November 2017    Published: 07 December 2017
Views:       Downloads:

Share This Article

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.

DOI 10.11648/j.earth.20170606.18
Published in Earth Sciences (Volume 6, Issue 6, December 2017)
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), 2024. 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
[1] Robinson, T. D., & Catling, D. C. (2014). Common 0.1 [thinsp] bar tropopause in thick atmospheres set by pressure-dependent infrared transparency. Nature Geoscience, 7(1), 12-15.
[2] McPherson, M. J. (2012). Subsurface ventilation and environmental engineering: Springer Science & Business Media.
[3] Elmegreen, B. G., & Elmegreen, D. M. (1986). Do density waves trigger star formation? The Astrophysical Journal, 311, 554-562.
[4] Stefan, J. (1879). On the relationship between thermal radiation and temperature. Bulletin from the sessions of the Vienna Academy of Sciences (Vienna, 1879), 79, 391-428.
[5] Zasova, L. V., Ignatiev, N., Khatuntsev, I., & Linkin, V. (2007). Structure of the Venus atmosphere. Planetary and Space Science, 55(12), 1712-1728.
[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
[11] NASA, black body curves Sun and Earth, (2017). Accessed 14/11/2017 https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/ArcticReflector/Images/black_body_log_log_rt.gif
[12] Maxwell, J. C. (2012). Theory of heat: Courier Corporation.
[13] Flamm, D. (1997). Four papers by Loschmidt on the state of thermal equilibrium Pioneering Ideas for the Physical and Chemical Sciences (pp. 199-202): Springer.
[14] Graeff, R. W. (2007). Viewing The Controversy Loschmidt–Boltzmann/Maxwell Through Macroscopic Measurements Of The Temperature Gradients In Vertical Columns Of Water. Preprint. Additional Results Are on the Web Page.
[15] Arrhenius, S. (1896). XXXI. On the influence of carbonic acid in the air upon the temperature of the ground. The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, 41(251), 237-276.
[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.
[21] Cederlöf, M. (2014). Using seasonal variations to estimate earth's response to radiative forcing.
[22] Abbot, J., & Marohasy, J. (2017). The application of machine learning for evaluating anthropogenic versus natural climate change. Geo Res J, 14, 36-46.
[23] Team, C. W., Pachauri, R., & Meyer, L. (2014). IPCC, 2014: Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I. II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151.
[24] Allen, M. R., Barros, V. R., Broome, J., Cramer, W., Christ, R., Church, J. A.,... Dubash, N. K. (2014). IPCC Fifth Assessment Synthesis Report-Climate Change 2014 Synthesis Report.
Author Information
  • Science & Engineering Faculty, Federation University, Mt Helen, Ballarat, Australia

Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    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

    Copy | Download

    ACS 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

    Copy | Download

    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

    Copy | Download

  • @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://download.sciencepg.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}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Molar Mass Version of the Ideal Gas Law Points to a Very Low Climate Sensitivity
    AU  - Robert Ian Holmes
    Y1  - 2017/12/07
    PY  - 2017
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20170606.18
    DO  - 10.11648/j.earth.20170606.18
    T2  - Earth Sciences
    JF  - Earth Sciences
    JO  - Earth Sciences
    SP  - 157
    EP  - 163
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5982
    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
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

  • Sections