In the Community Forum Stephen Jenkins, a biology professor emeritus at UNR, argued for trusting experts (climate scientists) on global warming [Reno Rebirth, April 28].
In response, Al Miller, a "retired" chemist" from Palm Springs, said that carbon dioxide (CO2) wasn't concentrated enough in our atmosphere to cause significant changes in global temperature. This is false.
We know how much heat each CO2 molecule can absorb, how many CO2 molecules there are and how much they are expected to heat the atmosphere. The renowned Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius figured this out in 1896.
Miller then claimed: "The so-called greenhouse effect has been falsified and concluded to be fictional" and "No greenhouse effect has been demonstrated in any planetary atmosphere."
Mars and Venus are near to Earth. Venus has a dense, mainly CO2 atmosphere. The surface temperature is over 860 degrees Fahrenheit because of the greenhouse effect. Mars, also near to Earth, has almost no atmosphere, no greenhouse effect and, as a result, the temperature ranges from 26 Fahrenheit during the day to minus-140 degrees Farhenheit at night. Key word: expert.
Douglas Lowenthal, Reno