Our lives, like the seasons, tend to be affected by an annual cycle dictated by the revolution of the Earth about the Sun that takes one year. We are inclined to celebrate events on this time scale, events like Christmas, which occurs each year towards the end of this cycle measured by the calendar year.
Where my daughter is now living, in Seattle, it is cold at this time of the year not because the Sun has moved away but because the Earth’s spin axis is titled with respect to its orbital plane. This is what causes the seasons. Seattle, at latitude 47°39′00.00″ North, reliably receives much less insolation – much less sunlight at this time of year because the North hemisphere of the Earth is tilted away from the Sun.
The Sun warms the Earth and can warm us, but it doesn’t much warm the atmosphere. Income solar radiation passes through the atmosphere without warming it.
When a cloud passes over head on a warm day, if we are paying attention, we will notice that it is immediately cooler. We will tend to feel immediately cooler because we are warmed directly by the Sun, it is not the case that the Sun first warms the atmosphere.
The Sun warms the Earth and some of this energy is radiated back towards space as long wave radiation which is a weaker form of radiation. Carbon dioxide will emit long wave radiation, first emitted from the Earth that was warmed by the Sun, which begs the question how carbon dioxide is going to warm the Earth?
The climate system is complex not just because many processes and exchanges occur, but because different components act on widely different timescales and interact in highly non-linear ways.
I will miss my daughter this Christmas, but I am grateful to have visited with her in November albeit for just a few days.
She took me to her new (new to us) local bookshop, Magus Books. I am always happy in a bookshop.
Jennifer exiting Magnus Books, Seattle. And I purchased 'Ships and Fleets of the Ancient Mediterranean' by Jean Rouge, to read this Christmas.
I hope you manage to do something that you enjoy this end of year; that you can take some time to read a book, or plant a flower, or enjoy a meal with friends and family.
Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2024 – the year ahead!
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The feature image shows me with Caroline and the Sun's rays shining through, creating light and shadows in Seattle in November.
Holding out for immaculate science is quaint. And anti-factual. Requoting motivated sources does not make them less wrong. Declining to quantify "effect" implies less than good faith. Dismissing the many scientists, including the host of this blog, who have well documented the problems of the consensus indicates a rather reactionary anti-scientific perspective.
"It’s important to remember that scientists always focus on the evidence, not on opinions. Scientific evidence continues to show that human activities (primarily the human burning of fossil fuels) have warmed Earth’s surface and its ocean basins, which in turn have continued to impact Earth’s climate. This is based on over a century of scientific evidence forming the structural backbone of today's civilization.
NASA Global Climate Change presents the state of scientific knowledge about climate change while highlighting the role NASA plays in better understanding our home planet. This effort includes citing multiple peer-reviewed studies from research groups across the world,1 illustrating the accuracy and consensus of research results (in this case, the scientific consensus on climate change) consistent with NASA’s scientific research portfolio.
With that said, multiple studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals1 show that climate-warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human activities. In addition, most of the leading scientific organizations worldwide have issued public statements endorsing this position. The following is a partial list of these organizations, along with links to their published statements and a selection of related resources."
https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/
Blep,
The 97% agreement fib was outed a long, long time ago. Please do try and keep up. For those impugning IPA, and our host, it was the NGO/Government funded academics who deceitfully ignored the data and pushed the untruth that the GBR is dying.
Jennifer, spending time with family is marvelous, no mstter the celebrstion. Congratulations for your daughter finding a home in Seattle. Next visit, please consider an excursion to experience Texas hospitality.
Merry Christmas belated), and Happy New Year. May 2024 be filled with wonder, health and happiness.
In answer to Jenny's question, "Life on Earth depends on energy coming from the Sun. About half the light energy reaching Earth's atmosphere passes through the air and clouds to the surface, where it is absorbed and radiated in the form of infrared heat. About 90% of this heat is then absorbed by greenhouse gases and re-radiated, slowing heat loss to space."
https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/
I for one congratulate Jennifer on all she has done this past year and many more before that and look forward to continued gems from her in the New Year. Having eyes and ears on the ground (or rather in the water) to make informed observations is invaluable. I have no doubt we will continue to be pestered by nincompoops whose knowledge of science or indeed much else is clearly minimal and the intention is to be disruptive but, judging from recent fruitless attempts by others to engage them in more sensible dialogue, it is probably best just to ignore them.
My brother has little to add:
"I would guess altitude is the main factor. Most of the western deserts with big swings are also pretty high. Death Valley also has more vertical relief than anywhere - 14000 ft range to the west 11000 ft range to the east radiating heat into the crucible."
Oh yeah, getting back to CO2. Death Valley is some 180 feet (60 meters) below sea level. The high desert places we referred to are at 1,000 - 1,500 meters elevation. That puts them above 10% or so of the atmosphere, and 10% of the CO2, and the thinner air has a lower specific heat! However, Concord NH is around 100m, insignificant compared to Death Valley.
Ross, I would have expected a bigger range at Death Valley. There's a decent chance the soil keeps the temperature higher and perhaps radiation from the mountains keeps things warm too - on a long bicycle tour mostly in Oregon, I could feel the heat from columnar basalt above the valley we were in one night.
July ranges for other places I've been to (temps in Fahrenheit, range in Celsius):
https://weatherspark.com/y/2636/Average-Weather-in-Flagstaff-Arizona-United-States-Year-Round
Flagstaff AZ: 80/53°F: 15C° - High desert, cryptobiotic soil outside of town. That's an insulating layer that Death Valley may not have.
https://weatherspark.com/y/150296/Average-Weather-in-Grand-Canyon-National-Park-Arizona-United-States-Year-Round
Grand Canyon National Park: 84/50°F: 19C° - A ways north of Flagstaff. Either near the rim or at a small airport nearby. Minor urban heat island effect.
https://weatherspark.com/y/1775/Average-Weather-in-John-Day-Oregon-United-States-Year-Round
John Day OR: 87/56°F: 17C° - High desert in Oregon. Passed through on the bicycle tour. Oh, it's a bigger town than I was thinking of https://wermenh.com/biketour/restof_or.html
https://weatherspark.com/y/26388/Average-Weather-in-Concord-New-Hampshire-United-States-Year-Round
Concord NH: 81/61°F: 11C° - Not desert - but it's home. Fairly humid and cloudy. This is nearly twice the swing at Death Valley!
I'll ask my brother if he knows what gives with Death Valley, he got a geology degree in Flagstaff, but I doubt he's spent much time, if any, at Death Valley.
Interesting that commenters overwhelmingly support Jenn and the IPA noting they are all about "truth". Especially given that the IPA's position is strongly suppported by the fossil fuel industry while ignoring 97 percent of trained, actual, climate scientists.
Ric Werne.
“… deserts cool off quickly at night”.
The average maximum and minimum temperatures for Furnace Creek USA for:
June - max. 35.1C, min. 28.8C
July - max. 38.2C, min. 32.3C
Aug. - max. 36.9C, min. 30.8C
Not much cooling a night during summer at Death Valley!
Enjoy the titled season.