absorption of surface IR is a boundary issue because it is basically absorbs all CO2 specific radiation in the first 10 meters and warms that portion of the atmosphere.
Yes.
after the first 10 meters the atmosphere has no surface 15micron IR.
but it is producing its own blackbody radiation that contains CO2 specific radiation, as well there is a modest fraction of CO2 specific re-emission of 15 micron IR from excited CO2 molecules.
Why do you care about the 15 micron radiation? The atmosphere, as you say, is radiating its own blackbody spectrum and that will then be reabsorbed and reradiated and reabsorbed and reradiated until it finally departs the atmosphere.
there is always IR energy to be slowed down by CO2 until the atmosphere is so thin that there are few molecular collisions to produce blackbody radiation.
Yes.
jc456 is more correct on this point.
What point of jc's do you mean?
surface temperature is an equilibrium between energy in and energy out.
That is true of all temperatures.
solar insolation is basically static and independent of atmospheric temperature.
Solar insolation varies by latitude, time and weather and temperature is dependent on it.
escape of surface radiation is not independent of atmospheric temperature.
Emission of surface radiation is dependent on temperature. Transmission of that radiation through the atmosphere is not, but there are numerous constituents and system states that are temperature dependent which do effect transmission. Therefore, transmission is indirectly and complexly dependent on temperature. I am uncertain what you mean here by "escape".
if the air above the surface has an increased temperature then less net radiation escapes, the opposite is true if the air temp decreases.
Would you care to explain that? CO2's IR absorption characteristics are not temperature dependent - at least within the range found in the Earth's atmosphere. If you're including conduction and convection effect, then you're no longer talking about
net radiation, are you.
if the height to extinction for 15 micron IR reduces to 9.5 meters from 10 meters then the same amount of energy will be absorbed into less volume, therefore the air just above the surface will increase
But what would reduce the "height to extinction"? Increased levels of CO2 in the mix?
causing a change in the equilibrium to a warmer temp
If you wish to look at this parameter rather than the rate at which CO2's portion of the IR spectrum is getting from the surface to space, feel free. But I don't know what point you're making with your comments about the difference between the surface's and CO2's radiative spectrum.
even though the air is cooler than the surface it can still 'warm' the surface. Old Rocks is more correct on this point.
There is no need to reinforce this point. Everyone here with even the most basic science education already know that all matter radiates IR.
I believe that CO2 actually does warm the surface. but far less than what CO2 theory says it will. why? becausethe extra energy being directed back at the surface will not just be used to heat up the surface.
And you think 200 years worth of real scientists looking and working with this topic have never thought of this point?
Get real.
climate models cannot do clouds or ocean circulation.
Don't be ridiculous. Of course they can. The problem is that modelers cannot be certain that they are being simulated accurately or even correctly.
these are the major players in climate. looking at the flea on the dog's back (CO2) is not going to give us a meaningful understanding of the system as a whole.
Then it's quite the stroke of luck that dozens of different models are able to accurately recreate past climate patterns.
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For jc456 and anyone else buying into this idiotic nonsense that cold can't radiate to warm or that CO2 absorbing IR might not increase in temperature:
Absorption and reflection
The object or surface that solar radiation strikes may be a planet, a terrestrial object inside the atmosphere of a planet, or an object exposed to solar rays outside of an atmosphere, such as
spacecraft. Some of the radiation will be absorbed and the remainder reflected.
Usually the absorbed solar radiation is converted to thermal energy, causing an increase in the object's temperature. Manmade or natural systems, however, may convert a portion of the absorbed radiation into another form, as in the case of
photovoltaic cells or
plants. The proportion of radiation reflected or absorbed depends on the object's
reflectivity or
albedo.
Wikipedia's article on solar insolation
All normal (baryonic) matter emits electromagnetic radiation when it has a temperature above absolute zero. The radiation represents a conversion of a body's thermal energy into electromagnetic energy, and is therefore called
thermal radiation. It is a
spontaneous process of radiative distribution of
entropy.
Wikipedia's article on blackbody radiation