>CO2 does not have any effect on the reflectivity of the earth. >I disagree with your statement here
Provide your source.
>Does a greenhouse gas like CO2 absorb more infrared radiation than say N2? Yes, obviously, at earth like temperatures. Off the top of my head I think the temperature needs to approach somewhere around 100K before N2 absorbs IR.
Is "absorb" also the same as "reflect" now? Sheesh.
> Does the Sun emit radiation in the infrared band? Does CO2 absorb infrared at temperatures over 280K? Does it even interact with infrared at these temperatures?
If energy from the sun excites CO2 in the upper atmosphere and re-emits it, it is functionally blocking infrared from hitting the earth. Conservation of energy, friend, if its coming from both directions you're going to end up with a point of equilibrium, aren't you?
So functionally, what you end up arguing is that CO2 causes infrared energy to reflect back into space. Wouldn't that mean less energy striking the surface? So.. if anything this is an inconvenient path for your argument to take.
>The moon has very little relevance to this discussion. It has every relevance to this discussion.
You're trying to disprove the claim that greenhouse gases have no effect on noon temperatures, and make some type of argument regarding reflectivity.
The moon has very high noon temperatures and minimal atmosphere. The moon also has very low reflectivity. So yes, in that regard your theory makes total sense! Less reflectivity = higher surface temperatures.
The hottest places on earth are deserts, which have very high reflectivity.( But still, considerably less warm than the hottest parts of the moon.) The coldest places are also very reflective.
The areas of the world with the least reflectivity are dense forests. And yet, somehow, these areas tend to have relatively temperate day time temperatures.
Hmmm... how can places on earth with more reflectivity have higher peak temperatures than a place with less?
It's almost as if you're missing something very vital about the earths atmosphere. I do wonder what that is.
