increased CO2 was supposed to cause the water vapor emission layer to ascend to a higher altitude
???? That is your understanding of the hotspot? Who said that? By what mechanism? Are you just putting down random words?
Wow ian...you really do just go about making shit up for yourself and proclaiming it as science don't you? You really have no idea what the hot spot is all about do you?...Here, let me run it by you one more time. If you don't get it this time, perhaps you might try to actually look up what climate science says rather than make it up for yourself...both are wrong, but at least one isn't simply the product of your own imagination.
According to climate science and the ipcc the mechanism that is supposed to cause the tropospheric hot spot is part of the physical mechanics of the greenhouse hypothesis and goes as follows...and since you obviously have never bothered to look this up since the explanation to you seems to be just random words, I will back track a bit and explain a bit about the atmosphere itself...maybe all you think you know about the atmosphere is just shit you made up as well..
At its most basic...the portion of the atmosphere that contains water vapor is called the troposphere. Water vapor is the only gas in the atmosphere that actually rises to the definition of a greenhouse gas because it not only absorbs IR, but stores the energy...unlike other gasses which simply absorb IR and then immediately emit it right on into space....further since water vapor is so prevalent in the troposphere, a fair amount of the energy absorbed by the other so called greenhouse gasses gets transferred to H2O molecules via collisions before the so called greenhouse gas molecules can radiate the energy on towards space.
The troposphere itself is broken down into the upper and lower troposphere by the WATER VAPOR EMISSIONS LEVEl (WVEL)...also known by some sources as the characteristic emissions level (CEL) which is located one optical depth below the top of the troposphere.
Note: if you don't know what an optical depth is, stop here and go look it up. It has to do with how opaque any particular medium is to radiation passing through it. It would take more time than I have to explain the whole concept to you and I am not sure you would listen anyway. You apparently only listen to the voice in your head that helps you make it all up for yourself.
Above the line that constitutes the water vapor emissions level, radiation within the absorption frequencies of water vapor more or less radiate directly out into space...below the water vapor emissions level, it is more likely to be absorbed and perhaps retained, perhaps passed on via collision, or perhaps radiated on up into the atmosphere.
Nevertheless, because of the property of water vapor which allows it to actually absorb and retain energy, the lower troposphere..that is the part of the troposphere below the water vapor emissions level is warmer than the upper troposphere which effectively radiates any energy within the H2O absorption frequencies right on out into space, and as a result, gets colder, the higher you go.
So once again....according to climate science, the climate models, and the ipcc, the mechanism that is supposed to cause the tropospheric hot spot goes something like this.
- An increase in surface temperature will increase evaporation in the oceans which will then increase the amount of water vapor present in the troposphere.
- This extra water vapor is added on to the water vapor that is already residing in the atmosphere which, in turn, enlarges the lower troposphere (one optical depth below the top of the troposphere). This enlargement of the lower troposphere is then supposed to push the water vapor emissions layer to a higher altitude.
- By increasing the altitude to which the water vapor emissions level, the warmer portion of the troposphere is pushed up into the part of the atmosphere which was previously the colder portion of the troposphere which effectively radiated energy within the H2O absorption band right on out into space. That part of the atmosphere now occupied by the portion of the troposphere that is below one optical depth from the top of the troposphere is warmer that it was when it was before the size of the lower troposphere increased.
- The hot spot forms at the top of the lower troposphere.
- This increased water vapor (which by the way, is supposed to increase because of the enhanced greenhouse effect that results from increased CO2) enlarges the lower troposphere which absorbs and holds more heat which causes the earth to warm...and this is in addition to the temperature increase supposedly caused by CO2 which caused the temperature to rise and cause more evaporation in the first place. (that is part of the magic)
- In addition, this increased water vapor will decrease the moist adiabatic lapse rate in the lower troposphere...this means that the temperature doesn't decrease as quickly as you increase altitude between the ground and the top of the lower troposphere...(one optical depth below the top of the troposphere)
- This decrease of the moist adiabatic lapse rate which causes the top of the lower troposphere to increase in temperature to compensate which in turn causes the tropospheric hot spot.
All of this is supposed to happen as a result of increased CO2 in the atmosphere which will cause warming and as a result, more evaporation from the oceans. But, since CO2 doesn't cause warming, there is no additional evaporation from the oceans, the troposphere remains the same size and no hot spot develops.
Now keep in mind that none of this, beyond the existence of the troposphere, and its division at the water vapor emissions level is real...it is all hypothetical and the basis for the greenhouse hypothesis, and the resulting AGW hypothesis due to more so called greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. It is all a hypothetical effect resulting from a hypothetical cause..that being that CO2 and other so called greenhouse gasses somehow slow down the escape of IR from the lower atmosphere. It isn't going to happen because the magical property that climate science, and you have ascribed to CO2 are fictional....CO2 doesn't slow down the escape of IR into space..if anything, it speeds it up.
And here is the kicker...there has certainly been some warming over the past half a century or so...not as much as the manipulated record would like you to believe, but some small amount anyway...this bit of warming has not, according to the measured data caused the altitude of the water vapor emissions level to increase whatsoever.
This is a prediction of not only AGW, but of the greenhouse hypothesis itself...it is part of the physical mechanics of the greenhouse hypothesis..it predicts that if you increase the surface temperature you increase the amount of evaporation and this increased water vapor in the troposphere will raise the altitude of the water vapor emissions level and cause a hot spot...according to the greenhouse hypothesis, any surface warming will cause this...not just warming due to CO2...
Now tell me ian...in real science, how many predictive failures does a hypothesis get before it is tossed out in favor of a hypothesis that doesn't fail in its predictions...especially a big one like this. Face it ian, the greenhouse hypothesis itself has failed and it has failed because of a gross misunderstanding and misapplication of physics....the very physics you so fervently believe in.
And here is another kicker...as the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased, the altitude of the water vapor emissions level has been observed to descend somewhat...precisely the opposite of what your understanding of the physics of energy transfer in the atmosphere predicted.
