Problems with Emission Spectra
There are also very serious problems with assuming that the Earth’s surface radiates according to the Stefan-Boltzmann Law. The IR emission from the Earth’s surface is usually, but erroneously, determined by calculating values from the Stefan-Boltzmann Law, decreasing the amount of radiation, by multiplying by an assumed emissivity which is less than 1.0. Similarly, IR-Active Gases in the atmosphere do not radiate according to the Stefan-Boltzmann Law. (See the link from the previous section.) Below are two IR Spectra, from Tap Water on the left and from Feldspar on the right, both from the linked reference in the previous section.
IR Spectrum of Tap Water
(similar to salt water?)
IR Spectrum of Feldspar (similar to rock,
which would be similar to spectra from land)
Neither of these bear much resemblance to the idealized Planck Distribution, shown below, from which the Stefan-Boltzmann Law is derived.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck%27s_law
(Units on the Planck distribution are in microns, and the two spectra above are in wavenumber, all arranged to be compatible right to left: 4000 cm-1 corresponds to 2.5 microns; 1000 cm-1 corresponds to 10 microns)
Common use of the Stefan-Boltzmann Law for IR emission calculations for both the Earth’s surface, and for IR-Active Gases in the atmosphere, introduces large errors. See elsewhere in the Website under “Climate Science” for additional details and discussion.
We should revisit occasionally what the proper role of government is. As the constitution was a good sense of direction, we need a core set of principles to add in order to deal with the future.
So many want to engineer society, remove risk, assist certain groups, rather than let individuals thrive and raise communities. Why?
Is Democracy where we all "get it good and hard" or is it the best means to a free society?
Should we roll with the special interests, or make the government achieve its proper role, what is that role, and how to do this?
When do deficits and governments become too large?
Government is becoming more elitist while trying to sell corrections to problems it created, what makes this possible?
