Fig.5
It appears from several investigations that due to the increase in CO2, earth has been greening, e.g.,
Deserts ‘greening’ from rising CO2 – CSIROpedia
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/human-activity-in-china-and-india-dominates-the-greening-of-earth-nasa-study-shows/
Obviously, we know from simple observations that there is no greening there where it is too cold. The extra warming of earth itself could therefore also be a contributing factor in the greening of earth. The extent of the extra greening is shown in Fig. 5 above. The question arises: what does all this extra greening do to local temperature? A first indication came to me from reading a report from John Christy, published in 2006. I show from the abstract of the report:
‘The debiased segments are then merged, forming a complete regional time series. Time series of daily maximum and minimum temperatures for stations in the irrigated San Joaquin Valley (Valley) and nearby non-irrigated Sierra Nevada (Sierra) were generated for 1910–2003. Results show that twentieth-century Valley minimum temperatures are warming at a highly significant rate in all seasons, being greatest in summer and fall (> +0.25°C decade−1). The Valley trend of annual mean temperatures is +0.07° ± 0.07°C decade−1. Sierra summer and fall minimum temperatures appear to be cooling, but at a less significant rate, while the trend of annual mean Sierra temperatures is an unremarkable −0.02° ± 0.10°C decade−1. A working hypothesis is that the relative positive trends in Valley minus Sierra minima (>0.4°C decade−1 for summer and fall) are related to the altered surface environment brought about by the growth of irrigated agriculture, essentially changing a high-albedo desert into a darker, moister, vegetated plain.’
Source: Methodology and Results of Calculating Central California Surface Temperature Trends: Evidence of Human-Induced Climate Change? in: Journal of Climate Volume 19 Issue 4 (2006) (ametsoc.org)
They measured warming of 0.07 C/decade, but in neighboring Sierra Nevada the temperature went down by 0.02C/ decade, probably due to natural causes. The corrected result is therefore 0.09K/decade. Now look at my own result for Las Vegas, here This used to be a desert: they just brought water from afar. The average temperature went up by 0.65K per decade! That is more than +3K over de last 50 years. Johannesburg is one of the few places in South Africa where I observed some significant warming. Note that Johannesburg, like Las Vegas, also did not have any natural flowing water. This used to be savannah. But there was gold. So, they brought the water. Here I measure warming of +0.18K per decade. I also looked in Bursa, Turkey, which shows strong greening if I go by Fig.5. I find that temperatures have gone up here, by a staggering 0.80K/decade from 1973, i.e., 3.8C warmer. What about the Arctic? If you look carefully at Fig.4 you can see that the leaf area increased by more than 50% in the areas around the arctic ocean. It appears from various measurements that it is warming there at a rate of 0.5K per decade.
In contrast, in South America many forest trees were chopped for logging or to make way for agricultural – and housing developments. A loss of about 10-15% in leaf area is apparent (see picture, area is orange). In Lapaz (Bolivia) I notice that the trend for minima is already negative and in Tandil (ARG) the temperature went down by as much as 0.43K/decade, i.e. 2K cooler. See here
In a recent report on climate change in Alabama, John Christy wrote: ‘Every trend calculation starting from 1895 through 2010 and ending in 2020 produces more warming in the lows than the highs’. In other words: minima are going up. Which is exactly what we would expect if the trend of greening in Alabama is increasing. Indeed: It is up about 10% from 1982 (Fig.5).
In my opinion, the mechanism for the extra warming due to greening is partly as explained earlier in the quoted report i.e., a change in albedo. But I think there is also another reason. I do remember from my biology class that there are two important reactions concerning plant life. The one takes place during the day, with the chlorophyll under the influence of UV. Apparently, this reaction is endotherm. So, it consumes the energy from the warmth of the day. The other reaction (with CO2) takes place during the night – this is when the sugars are made, and growth takes place. Basically, this is where all our food and drinks come from. This reaction is exotherm: It produces heat! I think it is the latter reaction that is also an important factor as it explains the trapping of the heat during the night and in the growth seasons, as reported by Christy et al. 2006.
Altogether, looking randomly at the 5 places that had become a lot greener, as per Fig.5, you remember the results, respectively: (0.09 + 0.65 + 0.18 + 0.80 + 0.50) / 5 = 0.41K/decade, on average. This is more than 200% of the 0.18K/decade warming reported by UAH, overland, from 1979. The influence of the extra greening of earth due to the extra warming and due to extra increase in CO2 appears to be significant.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
The results of my investigations revealed that one of the most probable causes for the extra warming of earth could be more volcanic activity, especially in and around the Arctic. It seems that this could be related to the 1000-year Eddy cycle. It is considered that the warming of earth is not a ‘problem’ as such. It is a benefit as it aids in the greening of earth. Due to various factors, including man wanting more crops and greenery and putting more dung up in the air for this (i.e., CO2), earth is putting on an extra green jacket which appears to help a lot in keeping herself warmer at night….
RECOMMENDATIONS
- Note that the (slight) reduction of heat coming from the sun is likely to continue for some time. More carbon dioxide stimulates more growth on earth. If we want a greener world, it is not necessary to reduce our emissions.
- To stop the melting of more arctic ice, we must prevent getting more soot on ice. For this, the amount of shipping in the NH must be reduced. This can be achieved by stopping the shipments of wood for fuel from north America and eastern Europe to western Europe.
- Coal, wood and oil contain poisons and combustion often produces or leaves unacceptable soot, and poisonous ash- and dust levels. Oil spills cause serious problems for sea life. Therefore, for the time being, gas is still the cleanest source for energy giving also the biggest amount of calories. Be aware of the problems with green energy, see: the Green Illusion North, east, south, west: gas best!
Addendum 1
Increasing amount of Arctic Ocean deep waters in the Greenland Sea – Somavilla – 2013 – Geophysical Research Letters – Wiley Online Library
Abstract
[1] In the last three decades, deep convection has come to a halt in the Greenland Sea. Hydrographic data reveal that during this period, temperature and salinity in the deep Greenland Sea have increased at mean rates without precedent in the last 100 years, and these trends are among the highest in the global deep ocean. The origin of these changes is identified as the advection of Arctic Ocean deep waters and the necessary transports to explain them are calculated (0.44±0.09 Sv). Despite the fact that the deep Greenland Sea hardly covers 0.05% of the global surface, the resulting trends constitute 0.3% of the World Ocean heat content increase per unit area of earth’s surface and 0.1% of the global sea level rise. These results suggest that changes of the deep Arctic Mediterranean and their contribution to the global budgets need to be addressed.
Addendum 2
Reminder of the relationship Specific Heat Capacity with salt concentration:
Q= -11,5 [C] + 4163 (E1)
We consider the total surface area of the oceans of earth
It is 361 million square kilometers
=361 x 1012 m2
We consider a column of 1 meter deep. (HadSST measures at the depth of 0.2 meter)
=361 x 1012 x 1 m3
=361 x 1012 x 1025 kg
We want to raise the temperature of this amount of water by 0.5K (the ‘problem’, + 0.12 K/decade measured above the oceans since 1979)
=370 x 1015 x 0.5 kgK
=185 x 1015 kgK
As per Table 2 in the report we need 3850J per kgK (25g/l)
=185 x 1015 x 3850
= 71,2 x 1019 J
Let us now consider the doubling of the salt concentration of the waters of the seas and oceans on average, due to the influence of man and/or other natural factors. This represents a worst-case scenario. According to E1, this 25g/l increase would cause a decrease of ca. 25 x 11,5=287.5J per kgK in the specific heat capacity.
Now let:
71,2 x 1019 J = K x 370 x 1015 x (3850 – 287.5) = K x 3.7 x 1017 x 3562.5
By solving the equation, we find the extra increase in temperature of the oceans and seas due to the increase in salinity by 25g/l:
K = 0.54
0.54-0.5=0.04K
The doubling of the salt concentration brought an additional warmth of only 0.04K.
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