(I'm guessing whoever wrote the text in the broadening sections is more used to thinking
about emission spectra, and so got lazy and kept referring only to emission.)
Lots of black body curves but not used to thinking
about emission spectrum for a gas.
Not exact matches
Beyond the wavelength coverage of the space - borne observatories, the
spectra taken in Hawaii even turned up a curious new feature — a boost in
emissions of unknown origin at wavelengths of
about 3.3 microns.
Sounds
about right — right down to your quantum mechanics, the absorption and
emission of photons (Einstein was a patent clerk) by matter, the
spectra, any inconvenient fact.
Has anyone actually done any «real» laboratory experiments with CO2 mixtures, using a real 288 Kelvin thermal radiation source that is putting out a 10.1 micron peak wavelength
emission spectrum at
about 390 W / m ^ 2.
With
about 90 % of the carbon
emissions from our electricity sector coming from coal fired power stations, Australia will need to look beyond just coal towards the full
spectrum of available energy solutions.
Thus please, before you accuse someone of trying to mislead, just read some textbook
about emissions / absorption
spectra or ask it anyone who has knowledge of such things, who you may trust.
Observations of earth
emission spectra seen outside the atmosphere from satellites should co0ntain components that are emitted from surface that are 333 K or even higher; and this is important since the Wien displacement Law, would shift these
emission peaks even further away from the CO2 15 micron nand as the spectral peak moves from its nominal 10.1 microns at 288 K down to
about 8.7 microns at 333 K.
Skeptics do not agree
about very much except a few generalities: the absorption /
emission spectra of gases measured in laboratories; the laws of thermodynamics, etc..
Second, robotic probes have measured Venus» atmosphere to be
about 97 % CO2, and we can see from the image above (click for a larger version) that the absorption
spectrum for CO2 (at Earth temperature and pressure — Venusian temperature and pressure increases the width of the absorption bands, making CO2 a stronger absorber in Venus» atmosphere than in Earth's) strongly overlaps the peak
emission spectrum of Venus» surface.
The one area in which it seems that I differ from what Phil has said, is that regarding the
emission of a (frequency) continuum
spectrum of thermal (due to Temperature) radiation by neutral gases; say N2, or O2, or how
about a mono - atomic gas like Argon.
But then you really aren't talking
about the absorption /
emission spectrum of your pure molecule, are you?
I pull this number out of my mind meaning that the N2 - O2
spectrum corresponds to a blackbody with 100um peak, which would correspond to a body at
about 40K with total
emission of 45mW / m2.