Do Global Energy budgets make sense. ???

[Richard S Courtney.]

Terry and Derek:

Please be careful with the fridge analogy.

There is a power supply to the climate system. It is called the Sun. Shutting off the power to the fridge stops it working. And shutting off the Sun would stop the climate system working.

And there is a heat pump in the climate system. It is called the hydrological cycle. The real problem with the KT radiation budget is that it fails to properly account for the hydrological cycle. The great bulk (~80%) of heat lost from the Earth's surface is removed by evapouration, transported up by convection, then deposited at altitude by condensation that forms clouds. That heat then enters the radiation budget at altitude when it is transfered to GHG molecules by molecular collisions.

In my opinion, the most serious fault with the KT budget is that it fails to account for the effects of the hydrological heat pump. And the fridge analogy draws attention away from this fault.

I hope these comments are helpful to your discussion.

Richard