The Week That Was: 2024 05-04 (May 4, 2024)

The Week That Was: 2024 05-04 (May 4, 2024)

brought to you by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)

The Science and Environmental Policy Project

Quote of the Week:

"Mathematics is the Language of Science" - Attributed to Galileo. He believed that the book of nature (natural philosophy (physical science)) is written in the language of mathematics.

Number of the Week: 32-year-old infants

THIS WEEK:

By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)

Scope: Included in the discussion is a new paper by Henrick Svensmark, et al. which may advance our understanding of clouds. An effort is made to distinguish among mathematics, logic, and science, which are often combined together incorrectly. Examples of the importance of testing against physical evidence are presented. Washington's spending plans are discussed in light of photosynthesis. The IEA's failure to use critical thinking is presented. And the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Doctors for Disaster Preparedness is mentioned.

Understanding Clouds: A perplexing problem for scientists studying changing climate and weather is the role of clouds which are important for both. In their work "The Role of Greenhouse Gases in Energy Transfer in the Earth's Atmosphere" using the HITRAN database professors van Wijngaarden and Happer clearly state that their work is for clear skies only. It does not apply to cloudy conditions. Happer has stated they are working on a general theory for cloud formation. Several papers are posted on van Wijngaarden's website but are too technical to be discussed here.The papers include: "Effect of Greenhouse Gases on Thermal Emissivity by Clouds", "Radiation Transfer in Cloud Layers", "2n-Stream Thermal Emission from Clouds", "2n-Stream Conservative Scattering", and "2n-Stream Radiative Transfer.". The authors have postponed any effort to have these papers published in major Western journals because they are immediately rejected or subject to time-wasting trivial objections. Such is the extent of "scientific groupthink" in adhering to the work of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and its followers. As seen with the eventual adoption of Copernican heliocentric system and, in the 20th century, Quantum Mechanics and its strange findings; open discussion and criticism of existing scientific groupthink is essential for science to progress.Thus, it is good to see a paper published that disturbs the current groupthink, though it is limited in scope. Geophysical Research Letters published "Supersaturation and Critical Size of Cloud Condensation Nuclei in Marine Stratus Clouds" by Henrik Svensmark and the co-authors include Nir Shaviv. The abstract, key points, and plain language summary state:AbstractObservations of marine stratus clouds in clean air off the Californian coast reveal a functional relationship between the number of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and supersaturation. Satellite-derived liquid droplet density estimates the number density of CCN. Combining the estimated supersaturation using K"ohler theory, global maps of supersaturation and the critical activation size of CCN are estimated. Here, we show that high supersaturation >0.5% persists over the oceans with a critical CCN size of 25"30 nm, which is smaller than the conventional wisdom of 60 nm. Independent support for such high supersaturation in the marine cloud is obtained from CCN measurements provided by the "Atmospheric Tomography Mission.". Higher supersaturation implies smaller activation size for CCN making cloud formation more sensitive to changes in aerosol nucleation.Key PointsOn average, supersaturation in marine clouds is significantly higher than the conventional view of 0.2%"0.3%Due to the higher supersaturation, much smaller aerosols get activated into cloud droplets.The results are essential for better understanding aerosols-cloud interactions.Plain Language SummaryClouds in Earth's atmosphere are of fundamental importance for the climate by regulating the reflection of sunlight into space and interacting with thermal radiation from Earth. Clouds form when moist air ascends and gets supersaturated with water vapor that condenses on aerosol particles of sufficient sizes, which then grow into cloud droplets. The aerosol number-density and size spectrum influence the resulting cloud properties, and the supersaturation determines which aerosols can be activated into cloud drops. Here, we show that the supersaturation in marine liquid clouds is significantly higher than in the conventional view. As a consequence, much smaller aerosols can serve as cloud condensation nuclei. This can make cloud formation more sensitive to changes in aerosol properties than previously thought. Such a result should be of general interest and lead