Global Warming Basics

A fundamental concept of global warming is Heat Radiation and Absorption. The law for this was developed by Jozef Stefan and Ludwig Boltzmann between 1879 and 1884.

The equation is: j=e times sigma times T^4

j is called Radiant Flux (How much energy something irradiates at some temperature T)

What this means is that as the temperature of something rises (T) a body radiates more energy (watts/square meter). In fact, as the temperature rises the energy radiated increases dramatically due to T^4=(T*T*T*T). The other two terms don't change (constants) and the equation for sigma then is outlined below.

Sigma=2pi^5k^4/15c^2h^3

It looks bad but it isn't really. More simply it could be written:

Sigma= 5.7x10^-8

As I said Epsilon (the little e) is also constant.

The equation for j (radiated energy) then becomes:

j = cT^4
(c=constant).

From this it is perhaps obvious why the radiated energy rises so rapidly with temperature.

The serious maths behind these equations is available at Wikipedia Stefan-Boltzmann law.

Enough for today!

Dr. A. Burfitt. Phd