Trace GasesWarm the Planet

S. 37-50

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Earth's Climate Evolution (2015) , S. 37-50

In 1859, having become aware of the work of Saussure and Fourier, John Tyndall began experimenting on the absorption and radiation of heat by gases. Tyndall showed that while carbon dioxide (CO2) is ‘in general’ a weak absorber of radiant heat, it absorbs practically all of the radiant heat from a carbonic oxide flame. Comparing the lack of absorption of infrared radiation by single-element gases like hydrogen (H2), oxygen (O2) and nitrogen (N2) with its abundant absorption by compound gases like CO2 and water (H2O), Tyndall concluded that something about the chemical bonds in the compound gases encouraged the absorption of radiant heat. Palaeoclimatologists would have to follow Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin and learn much more about atmospheric and ocean chemistry and circulation, as well as the role of the greenhouse gases, in order to appreciate how the Earth's climate system worked in the past.
carbon dioxide; climate system; greenhouse effect; Horace Bénédicte de Saussure; Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier; John Tyndall; palaeoclimatologists; Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin; trace gases