Privileged Planet: how quantum effects of CO2 warm us (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, February 15, 2024, 16:55 (71 days ago) @ David Turell

A new study shows how CO2 captures heat:

https://www.sciencealert.com/quantum-phenomenon-explains-tiny-molecules-huge-impact-on-...

"The reason why CO2 is so good at trapping heat essentially boils down to the way the three-atom molecule vibrates as it absorbs infrared radiation from the Sun.

"It is remarkable," Harvard University planetary scientist Robin Wordsworth and colleagues write in their new preprint, "that an apparently accidental quantum resonance in an otherwise ordinary three-atom molecule has had such a large impact on our planet's climate over geologic time, and will also help determine its future warming due to human activity." (my bold)

"When hit with incoming rays of light at certain wavelengths, CO2 molecules don't just jiggle about as one fixed unit as you might expect. Rather, CO2 molecules – which are made up of one carbon atom flanked by two oxygens – bend and stretch in certain ways.

"...the two oxygen atoms can stretch outward and the central carbon atom may or may not follow, or the carbon atom can swivel around the main axis of the molecule, bending it.

"A chance alignment in two of these vibrational patterns creates a type of quantum hum in CO2 molecules called Fermi resonance, which can make the molecules vibrate more. (my bold)

"In turn, this broadens the range of radiation that gets absorbed by CO2, as Wordsworth explained in an interview with New Scientist's Alex Wilkins. "It's this broadening which is really critical to understanding why carbon dioxide is an important greenhouse gas," he said.

***

"Other studies have recently estimated that the Fermi resonance of CO2 contributes around half of its total warming effect, otherwise known as radiative forcing.

***

"As it stands, the team's work instills a new appreciation of teensy, transparent CO2 – the fateful molecule upon which our lives depend.

"'One can imagine that with minor differences in the quantum structure of CO2, this resonance might be changed or inhibited, and the past and future evolution of our planet's climate would be very different," the researchers conclude." (my bolds)

Comment: my bolds point out the authors' point of view, that this happened all by chance. There was a 'snowball Earth' that is blocked by CO2 from reappearing. Moving diagrams in the article show how CO2 does it. Rather than serendipity, a designer makes sense.