Historical Aerosol Thickness Debunks "Chemtrails are Geoengineering"

I am not that long retired and the people and project are still active . . . so for obvious reasons I wish to remain elusive . . .

I can respect your wish to remain anonymous, but it does rather nullify any claims you make from your prior experience if you can't back any of it up.

To be clear though, would you actually get in any legal trouble if you discussed that wasteful project you mentioned?
 
I can respect your wish to remain anonymous, but it does rather nullify any claims you make from your prior experience if you can't back any of it up.

To be clear though, would you actually get in any legal trouble if you discussed that wasteful project you mentioned?
Possibly . . . As a commissioned officer . . . though retired . . . It is my understanding I can, under the UCMJ, be brought back on active duty and court-martial'ed . . . If one brings discredit upon the military it is a chargeable offense . . .

Mick . . . You know more about me than most . . . if you think I am speaking out of turn or above my experience level just say so . . .
 
A new article has been published on the subject of stratospheric aerosols in Geophysical Research Letters by Ryan R. Neely and Bryan Toon of the University of Colorado, Boulder. I have not been able to access the full text, but if anyone has such access I would appreciate seeing a copy.

Here is the Abstract:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/grl.50263/abstract
Recent anthropogenic increases in SO2 from Asia have minimal impact on stratospheric aerosol

[1] Observations suggest that the optical depth of the stratospheric aerosol layer between 20 and 30 km has increased 4–10% per year since 2000, which is significant for Earth's climate. Contributions to this increase both from moderate volcanic eruptions and from enhanced coal burning in Asia have been suggested. Current observations are insufficient to attribute the contribution of the different sources. Here we use a global climate model coupled to an aerosol microphysical model to partition the contribution of each. We employ model runs that include the increases in anthropogenic sulfur dioxide (SO2) over Asia and the moderate volcanic explosive injections of SO2 observed from 2000 to 2010. Comparison of the model results to observations reveals that moderate volcanic eruptions, rather than anthropogenic influences, are the primary source of the observed increases in stratospheric aerosol.

News Article:
http://www.agu.org/news/press/pr_archives/2013/2013-07.shtml
Volcanic aerosols, not pollutants, tamped down recent Earth warming

1 March 2013
AGU Release No. 13-07
For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON—Dozens of sulfur-dioxide-spewing volcanoes could be the reason that Earth warmed less than scientists expected between 2000 and 2010, a new study has found. The research indicates also that industrial sulfur dioxide emissions from India and China, which were suspected of tempering the warming, did not play a significant role, said lead study author Ryan Neely, who led the research as part of his University of Colorado Boulder doctoral thesis.

Small amounts of sulfur dioxide emissions from Earth’s surface eventually rise to 19 to 32 kilometers (12 to 20 miles) into the stratosphere, where chemical reactions create a mist, or aerosol, of sulfuric acid droplets and water droplets that reflects sunlight back to space, cooling the planet.

Neely said previous observations suggest that increases in stratospheric aerosols since 2000 have counterbalanced as much as 25 percent of the warming scientists blame on human greenhouse gas emissions. “This new study indicates it is emissions from small to moderate volcanoes that have been slowing the warming of the planet,” said Neely, a researcher at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, a joint venture of CU and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A paper on the subject has been accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters, a publication of the American Geophysical Union.

The new project was undertaken in part to resolve conflicting results of two recent studies on the origins of the sulfur dioxide in the stratosphere, including a 2009 study led by the late David Hoffman of NOAA, which indicated aerosol increases in the stratosphere may have come from rising emissions of sulfur dioxide from India and China. In contrast, a 2011 study led by Jean Paul Vernier of NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. — who also provided essential observation data for the new GRL study — showed moderate volcanic eruptions play a role in increasing particulates in the stratosphere, Neely said.

The new study relies on long-term measurements of changes in the stratospheric aerosol layer’s “optical depth,” which is a measure of transparency, Neely said. Since 2000, the optical depth in the stratospheric aerosol layer has increased by about 4 percent to 7 percent, meaning it is slightly more opaque now than in previous years.

“The biggest implication here is that scientists need to pay more attention to small and moderate volcanic eruptions when trying to understand changes in Earth’s climate,” said Brian Toon of CU-Boulder’s Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department, a co-author of the new study. “But overall theses eruptions are not going to counter the greenhouse effect. Emissions of volcanic gases go up and down, helping to cool or heat the planet, while greenhouse gas emissions from human activity just continue to go up.”

The key to the new results was the combined use of two sophisticated computer models, including the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model, or WACCM, Version 3, developed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder and is widely used around the world by scientists to study the atmosphere. The team coupled WACCM with a second model, the Community Aerosol and Radiation Model for Atmosphere, or CARMA, which allows researchers to calculate properties of specific aerosols and which has been under development by a team led by Toon for the past several decades.

Neely said the team used the Janus supercomputer on campus to conduct seven computer “runs,” each simulating 10 years of atmospheric activity tied to both coal-burning activities in Asia and to emissions by volcanoes around the world. Each run took about a week of computer time using 192 processors, allowing the team to separate coal-burning pollution in Asia from aerosol contributions from moderate, global volcanic eruptions. The project would have taken a single computer processor roughly 25 years to complete, said Neely.

The scientists said 10-year climate data sets like the one gathered for the new study are not long enough to determine climate change trends. “This paper addresses a question of immediate relevance to our understanding of the human impact on climate,” said Neely. “It should interest those examining the sources of decadal climate variability, the global impact of local pollution and the role of volcanoes.”

While small and moderate volcanoes mask some of the human-caused warming of the planet, larger volcanoes can have a much bigger effect, Toon said. When Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines erupted in 1991, it emitted millions of tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere that cooled the Earth slightly for the next several years.

The research for the new study was funded in part through a NOAA/ ESRL-CIRES Graduate Fellowship to Neely. The NSF and NASA also provided funding for the research project. The Janus supercomputer is supported by NSF and CU-Boulder and is a joint effort of CU-Boulder, CU-Denver and NCAR.

Notes for Journalists

Journalists and public information officers (PIOs) of educational and scientific institutions who have registered with AGU can download a PDF copy of this accepted article by clicking on this link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/grl.50263/abstract

Or, you may order a copy of the final paper by emailing your request to Kate Ramsayer at kramsayer@agu.org . Please provide your name, the name of your publication, and your phone number.

Neither the paper nor this press release are under embargo

Title:

“Recent anthropogenic increases in SO2 from Asia have minimal impact on stratospheric aerosol”

Authors:

R. R. Neely III
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA; NOAA, Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA; and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Boulder, Colorado, USA;
O. B. Toon
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA; and Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA;
S. Solomon
Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA;
J. P. Vernier
Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Hampton, Virginia, USA; and NASA, Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, USA;
C. Alvarez
NOAA, Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA; and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Boulder, Colorado, USA;
J. M. English, M. J. Mills, and C.G. Bardeen
Earth System Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA;
K. H. Rosenlof and J. S. Daniel
NOAA, Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA;
J. P. Thayer
Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
Contact information for the authors:

Ryan Neely: Phone: +1 (336) 302-4244, Email: Ryan.Neely@colorado.edu
Brian Toon: Phone: +1 (303) 492-1534, Email: Brian.Toon@colorado.edu
Content from External Source
 
A new article has been published on the subject of stratospheric aerosols in Geophysical Research Letters by Ryan R. Neely and Bryan Toon of the University of Colorado, Boulder. I have not been able to access the full text, but if anyone has such access I would appreciate seeing a copy.

Here is the Abstract:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/grl.50263/abstract
Recent anthropogenic increases in SO2 from Asia have minimal impact on stratospheric aerosol

[1] Observations suggest that the optical depth of the stratospheric aerosol layer between 20 and 30 km has increased 4–10% per year since 2000, which is significant for Earth's climate. Contributions to this increase both from moderate volcanic eruptions and from enhanced coal burning in Asia have been suggested. Current observations are insufficient to attribute the contribution of the different sources. Here we use a global climate model coupled to an aerosol microphysical model to partition the contribution of each. We employ model runs that include the increases in anthropogenic sulfur dioxide (SO2) over Asia and the moderate volcanic explosive injections of SO2 observed from 2000 to 2010. Comparison of the model results to observations reveals that moderate volcanic eruptions, rather than anthropogenic influences, are the primary source of the observed increases in stratospheric aerosol.

News Article:
http://www.agu.org/news/press/pr_archives/2013/2013-07.shtml
Volcanic aerosols, not pollutants, tamped down recent Earth warming

1 March 2013
AGU Release No. 13-07
For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON—Dozens of sulfur-dioxide-spewing volcanoes could be the reason that Earth warmed less than scientists expected between 2000 and 2010, a new study has found. The research indicates also that industrial sulfur dioxide emissions from India and China, which were suspected of tempering the warming, did not play a significant role, said lead study author Ryan Neely, who led the research as part of his University of Colorado Boulder doctoral thesis.

Small amounts of sulfur dioxide emissions from Earth’s surface eventually rise to 19 to 32 kilometers (12 to 20 miles) into the stratosphere, where chemical reactions create a mist, or aerosol, of sulfuric acid droplets and water droplets that reflects sunlight back to space, cooling the planet.

Neely said previous observations suggest that increases in stratospheric aerosols since 2000 have counterbalanced as much as 25 percent of the warming scientists blame on human greenhouse gas emissions. “This new study indicates it is emissions from small to moderate volcanoes that have been slowing the warming of the planet,” said Neely, a researcher at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, a joint venture of CU and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A paper on the subject has been accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters, a publication of the American Geophysical Union.

The new project was undertaken in part to resolve conflicting results of two recent studies on the origins of the sulfur dioxide in the stratosphere, including a 2009 study led by the late David Hoffman of NOAA, which indicated aerosol increases in the stratosphere may have come from rising emissions of sulfur dioxide from India and China. In contrast, a 2011 study led by Jean Paul Vernier of NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. — who also provided essential observation data for the new GRL study — showed moderate volcanic eruptions play a role in increasing particulates in the stratosphere, Neely said.

The new study relies on long-term measurements of changes in the stratospheric aerosol layer’s “optical depth,” which is a measure of transparency, Neely said. Since 2000, the optical depth in the stratospheric aerosol layer has increased by about 4 percent to 7 percent, meaning it is slightly more opaque now than in previous years.

“The biggest implication here is that scientists need to pay more attention to small and moderate volcanic eruptions when trying to understand changes in Earth’s climate,” said Brian Toon of CU-Boulder’s Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department, a co-author of the new study. “But overall theses eruptions are not going to counter the greenhouse effect. Emissions of volcanic gases go up and down, helping to cool or heat the planet, while greenhouse gas emissions from human activity just continue to go up.”

The key to the new results was the combined use of two sophisticated computer models, including the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model, or WACCM, Version 3, developed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder and is widely used around the world by scientists to study the atmosphere. The team coupled WACCM with a second model, the Community Aerosol and Radiation Model for Atmosphere, or CARMA, which allows researchers to calculate properties of specific aerosols and which has been under development by a team led by Toon for the past several decades.

Neely said the team used the Janus supercomputer on campus to conduct seven computer “runs,” each simulating 10 years of atmospheric activity tied to both coal-burning activities in Asia and to emissions by volcanoes around the world. Each run took about a week of computer time using 192 processors, allowing the team to separate coal-burning pollution in Asia from aerosol contributions from moderate, global volcanic eruptions. The project would have taken a single computer processor roughly 25 years to complete, said Neely.

The scientists said 10-year climate data sets like the one gathered for the new study are not long enough to determine climate change trends. “This paper addresses a question of immediate relevance to our understanding of the human impact on climate,” said Neely. “It should interest those examining the sources of decadal climate variability, the global impact of local pollution and the role of volcanoes.”

While small and moderate volcanoes mask some of the human-caused warming of the planet, larger volcanoes can have a much bigger effect, Toon said. When Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines erupted in 1991, it emitted millions of tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere that cooled the Earth slightly for the next several years.

The research for the new study was funded in part through a NOAA/ ESRL-CIRES Graduate Fellowship to Neely. The NSF and NASA also provided funding for the research project. The Janus supercomputer is supported by NSF and CU-Boulder and is a joint effort of CU-Boulder, CU-Denver and NCAR.

Notes for Journalists

Journalists and public information officers (PIOs) of educational and scientific institutions who have registered with AGU can download a PDF copy of this accepted article by clicking on this link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/grl.50263/abstract

Or, you may order a copy of the final paper by emailing your request to Kate Ramsayer at kramsayer@agu.org . Please provide your name, the name of your publication, and your phone number.

Neither the paper nor this press release are under embargo

Title:

“Recent anthropogenic increases in SO2 from Asia have minimal impact on stratospheric aerosol”

Authors:

R. R. Neely III
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA; NOAA, Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA; and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Boulder, Colorado, USA;
O. B. Toon
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA; and Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA;
S. Solomon
Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA;
J. P. Vernier
Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Hampton, Virginia, USA; and NASA, Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, USA;
C. Alvarez
NOAA, Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA; and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Boulder, Colorado, USA;
J. M. English, M. J. Mills, and C.G. Bardeen
Earth System Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA;
K. H. Rosenlof and J. S. Daniel
NOAA, Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA;
J. P. Thayer
Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
Contact information for the authors:

Ryan Neely: Phone: +1 (336) 302-4244, Email: Ryan.Neely@colorado.edu
Brian Toon: Phone: +1 (303) 492-1534, Email: Brian.Toon@colorado.edu
Content from External Source

PDF of the full article here.
 
I know this is a bit late, but as someone who flew the 747 I thought i ought to point out that the only time you might ever see one at 45000ft is one that is almost empty and with not much fuel either. The practical maximum altitudes varied from around 31000ft at max gross, 60 ton load plus 140 tons fuel for about 5000miles to about 35000 ft with fuel for 3500 miles. Absolutely no chance of 45000ft Highest I ever reached regularly was 41000 ft at the end of a flight. Bang goes that theory of us spraying at 60,000ft
 
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