The problem with Bonzo's post is that it doesn't quantify
anything. CO2 is significant. The heat energy trapped
by mankind's increasing CO2 since the industrial revolution
traps the equivalent of ~800 megatons per hour. That's the
energy of the entire US nuclear arsenal in three hours,
every hour, 24 hours a day, and 365 days a year. The
references and calculation for this statement are given bwlow.

---- Anthropogenic Radiative Forcings
---- in Watts per Meter squared and Megatons TNT per unit time

-- for formulas, please see:
-- http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/222.htm
-- Brasseur, Guy P. Et al, "Atmospheric Chemistry and Global Change,"
-- 1999, Oxford University Press.
-- for data, please see:
-- Mauna Loa CO2
-- ftp://ftp.cmdl.noaa.gov/ccg/co2/trends/co2_mm_mlo.txt

InitialCO2=280
FinalCO2=390
-- CO2
CO2=5.35*ln(FinalCO2/InitialCO2)
CO2:1.77
-- Two other formulas give slightly different values.
4.841*ln(FinalCO2/InitialCO2)+0.0906*(sqrt(FinalCO2)-sqrt(InitialCO2)):
1.88
g(C)=ln(1+1.2*C+0.005*C*C+1.4E-6*C*C*C)
3.35*(g(FinalCO2)-g(InitialCO2)):1.83

-- The total CO2 greenhouse gas
-- forcing in Watts per Meter squared is
TotalForcing = CO2
TotalForcing:1.77

---- Radiative Forcings in Megatons TNT

-- The diameter of the Earth is ~12756000 M.
-- Please see: http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/special/earth.htm
ERadius = 12756000/2
ERadius:6.38e+06

-- The surface area of the Earth is
EArea = 4*ð*ERadius^2
EArea:5.11e+14

-- The total power trapped by greenhouse gases in Watts.
EArea*TotalForcing:9.06e+14

-- The energy of 1 Megaton of TNT = 1.16111E12 Watt Hours. Please
see:
-- http://www.efunda.com/units/convert_...0&InputValue=1
WattHoursPerMegaton = 1.16111E12
WattHoursPerMegaton:1.16e+12

GlobalWarmingMegatonsHour=EArea*TotalForcing/WattHoursPerMegaton
GlobalWarmingMegatonsHour:780
GlobalWarmingMegatonsDay = GlobalWarmingMegatonsHour*24
GlobalWarmingMegatonsDay:1.87e+04
GlobalWarmingMegatonsYear = GlobalWarmingMegatonsDay*365.26
GlobalWarmingMegatonsYear:6.84e+06
-- GlobalWarmingWattHoursYear
EArea*TotalForcing*24*365.26:7.94e+18

On May 19, 9:42*pm, "ozonb" wrote:
May 15 2009

I look at the Earth with the oceans and air as a single entity obstructing the flow of
energy from the sun.

Short wave solar energy hits the Earth, some gets absorbed by Earth, oceans and air and is
then radiated out as long wave energy.

In the course of that process heat energy is released around the planet and radiated out
with the rest of the electromagnetic energy received from the sun. The shift from short
wave to long wave is just like the reduction in voltage as a current passes through a
resistor thereby generating heat.

That entire process, taken as a whole, sets the so called equilibrium temperature of the
planet.

The air is a contributor to the equilibrium temperature albeit miniscule as against the
effect of the oceans.

CO2 is a contributor to the equilibrium temperature albeit miniscule as against the effect
of the air.