2016-07-10

negative accelerations in Earth's climate

CAGW is certainly a least a little bit exaggerated.

A large consensus claims CO2 will cause the Earth to warm, at some climate sensitivity. A smaller consensus also claims positive accelerations will increase this effect, namely: polar amplification,  humidity, and methane release.

Less often spoken of are the negative accelerations. I have collected here a few hypotheses.

This first group is for housekeeping.

thermodynamics
  • logarithmic property of radiative transfer
  • increased absorption rate of CO2 into oceans (greater percentage, extra heat, extra air pressure due to CO2 being heaver than oxygen)
  • thermal expansion of troposphere 1 
  • UV breakdown in the stratosphere of C02 at a greater rate
Now the true negative accelerations:

basic life
complex synergies
  • increased CLAW production (by pelagibacterales) of dimethyl sulfide on ocean surface (creating more cloud albedo)   
  • extra CLAW in the Arctic (directly working opposite of polar amplification)
  • tropical cyclones (causing more water to fall onto plants than usual)
  • ocean rise increasing volume of water exchanged with the  sill-protected Arctic (creating more open water, increasing lake-effect NH snowfall,  slowing NH glacier melt (Ewing, Donn, 1956) leading to deceleration of ice albedo loss)
  • heavier atmosphere will lead to enhanced rock weathering when rain hits the rock (some chemical reaction I do not understand).


notes
  1. or is this counteracted because CO2 is heaver than O which it displaces?