Cold Air Rises – How Wrong Are Our Global Climate Models?

[Elderberry]

SciTechDaily  By University of California Davis May 6, 2020

The lightness of water vapor buffers climate warming in the tropics.

Conventional knowledge has it that warm air rises while cold air sinks. But a study from the University of California, Davis, found that in the tropical atmosphere, cold air rises due to an overlooked effect — the lightness of water vapor. This effect helps to stabilize tropical climates and buffer some of the impacts of a warming climate.

The study, published today (May 6, 2020) in the journal Science Advances, is among the first to show the profound implications water vapor buoyancy has on Earth’s climate and energy balance.

“It’s well-known that water vapor is an important greenhouse gas that warms the planet,” said senior author Da Yang, an assistant professor of atmospheric sciences at UC Davis and a joint faculty scientist with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “But on the other hand, water vapor has a buoyancy effect which helps release the heat of the atmosphere to space and reduce the degree of warming. Without this lightness of water vapor, the climate warming would be even worse.”

The study found that the lightness of water vapor increases Earth’s thermal emission by about 1-3 watts per square meter over the tropics. That value compares with the amount of energy captured by doubling carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The authors’ calculations further suggest that the radiative effects of vapor buoyancy increase exponentially with climate warming.

More: https://scitechdaily.com/cold-air-rises-how-wrong-are-our-global-climate-models/

[Free Vulcan]

Most climate models are static and rigid, and don't account for things like vapor buoyancy, gamma rays, sun fluctuations, or much else except the same old 100+ y/o musty and crusty assumptions of primitive 19th century science.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

They are likely as good as the Coronavirus models