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The Quantum Mechanics of the Greenhouse Effect
Carbon dioxide’s powerful heat-trapping effect has been traced to a quirk of its quantum structure. The finding may explain climate change better than any computer model.
It started with Joseph Fourier, a French mathematician and physicist who realized exactly 200 years ago that Earth’s atmosphere insulates the planet from the freezing cold of space, a discovery that launched the field of climate science. In contrast to those early days, the modern era of climate science has moved forward largely by way of computational models that capture the many complex and chaotic facets of our messy, shifting atmosphere. Joanna Haigh, an atmospheric physicist and emeritus professor at Imperial College London, agreed, saying the paper adds rhetorical power to the case for climate change by showing that it is “based on fundamental quantum mechanical concepts and established physics.”
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