A recently advanced argument against the atmospheric greenhouse effect is refuted. A planet without an infrared absorbing atmosphere is mathematically constrained to have an average temperature less than or equal to the effective radiating temperature. Observed parameters for Earth prove that without infrared absorption by the atmosphere, the average temperature of Earth’s surface would be at l...

Life, defined as a chemical system capable of transferring its molecular information via self-replication and also capable of evolving, must develop within a liquid to take advantage of the diffusion of complex molecules. On Earth, life probably originated from the evolution of reduced organic molecules in liquid water. Organic matter might have been formed in the primitive Earth's atmosphere o...

Effects on the global temperature of large increases in carbon dioxide and aerosol densities in the atmosphere of Earth have been computed. It is found that, although the addition of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere does increase the surface temperature, the rate of temperature increase diminishes with increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. For aerosols, however, the net effect of increas...

From iodine-plutonium-xenon isotope systematics, we re-evaluate time constraints on the early evolution of the Earth-atmosphere system and, by inference, on the Moon-forming event. Two extinct radioactivites (I, T1/2 = 15.6 Ma, and Pu, T1/2 = 80 Ma) have produced radiogenic Xe and fissiogenic Xe, respectively, within the Earth, which related isotope fingerprints are seen in the compositions of ...

Tau neutrinos interacting inside the Earth produce τ leptons which thereafter can decay inside the atmosphere. The propagation of extremely energetic ντ ’s and τ ’s through the Earth is studied by means of a detailed Monte Carlo simulation, taking into account all major mechanisms of ντ interactions and τ energy loss as well as decay modes. The rates of τ ’s emerging from the Earth are determin...

Earth’s Climate System (ECS) employs an Earth system perspective. A view of the Earth system as seen from space is presented in Figure 1 of the Narrative. Examine the figure for evidence of the major components of the Earth system — atmosphere, ocean, biosphere, cryosphere (including ice sheets, sea ice, glaciers, and seasonal snow cover), and land surface. These components, or sub-systems, int...

The Sun is a source of high energy neutrinos (E ∼ 10 GeV) produced by cosmic ray interactions in the solar atmosphere. We study the impact of three-flavor oscillations (in vacuum and in matter) on solar atmosphere neutrinos, and calculate their observable fluxes at Earth, as well as their event rates in a kilometer-scale detector in water or ice. We find that peculiar three-flavor oscillation e...

The various fluxes of radiation to and from the Earth’s surface are among the most important variables in the heat economy of the Earth as a whole and at any individual place at the Earth’s surface or in the atmosphere. Radiation measurements are used for the following purposes: (a) To study the transformation of energy within the Earth-atmosphere system and its variation in time and space; (b)...

This study examines the concept of ‘greenhouse gases’ and various definitions of the phenomenon known as the ‘Atmospheric Radiative Greenhouse Effect’. The six most quoted descriptions are as follows: (a) radiation trapped between the Earth’s surface and its atmosphere; (b) the insulating blanket of the atmosphere that keeps the Earth warm; (c) back radiation from the atmosphere to the Earth’s ...

The ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) model is coupled to the ocean general circulation model MPIOM using the Modular Earth Submodel System (MESSy) interface. MPIOM is operated as a MESSy submodel, thus the need of an external coupler is avoided. The coupling method is tested for different model configurations, proving to be very flexible in terms of parallel decomposition and very well ...