Randall Randall wrote:
> >> According to the probe data, the emitted surface infrared flux is 40
> >> times more than enters as sunlight.
> >
> >Again, that's exactly what the greenhouse model would predict..
>
> Um...no problem with the rest of this, but....
> The greenhouse model predicts that the surface emits 40 times
> the amount that it gets? Where does it generate this energy from?
The way the statement is phrased is misleading. The surface of Venus emits 40 times as much IR as the cloud tops, but almost all of this energy is trapped near the surface. The energy just bounces around between the surface and the lower layers of the atmosphere, and only a small fraction of it is able to escape into space. So the measurement they refer to has nothing to do with the rate at which energy escapes the surface - it is simply a measure of the amount of energy that is trapped under the cloud layers.
Billy Brown, MCSE+I
bbrown@conemsco.com