Some projects are pumping CO2 underground to reduce global warming. Water vapor is a greenhouse gas. Maybe we could use some of that money and equipment, to pump water underground!
The amount of water in the air is almost impossible to change because the evaporation and condensation keep the balance "constant". It actually depends on the average temperature and other factors so it's not a real "constant", but unless it's possible to cover all the seas it's impossible to reduce it.
The amount of CO2 changes more slowly, plants and cyanobacteria and some minerals absorb it, but it's a slow process. Natural decomposition, fires and fossil fuel power plants release it, but it's a slow process.
So it's easy to modify the CO2 amount in either direction. Burning fossil fuel to produce energy makes a lot of money. Carbon capture requires a lot of money. So you can guess which one is wining now.
My understanding is it is the other way around, that in equal concentrations water vapor has a much stronger greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide. However for physics reasons the atmosphere does not hold much water vapor.
In fact if I understand correctly this is the mechanism for a runaway greenhouse, that is, something like what happened to venus. Warmer temps allow for more water vapor in the atmosphere, due to it being such a good greenhouse gas, temps then build out of control as more and more water is vaporized.
It may be still more efficient to pump water underground. Isolating CO2 is very energy intensive, for the same amount of energy we may isolate 100x more H2O. Sometimes it even condenses spontaneously!
There is also huge amount of natural CO2, single vulcano eruption... It is about reducing green house gas emissions generated by humans. And there are many artificial lakes, fields and forests that generate huge footprint on water vapour..
> clouds can have either cooling or warming effects
Just in case anyone is wondering... one of the simplest interactions has to do with daytime and nighttime cloud cover.
Daytime cloud cover causes shade, which _can_ lower temps below the clouds. At night, heat from the ground radiates up and clouds can block the radiated heat. This is why cloudless nights during winter are colder, and cloudy summer nights can be stifling.
gus_massa|2 years ago
The amount of CO2 changes more slowly, plants and cyanobacteria and some minerals absorb it, but it's a slow process. Natural decomposition, fires and fossil fuel power plants release it, but it's a slow process.
So it's easy to modify the CO2 amount in either direction. Burning fossil fuel to produce energy makes a lot of money. Carbon capture requires a lot of money. So you can guess which one is wining now.
vkou|2 years ago
There's also no meaningful amount of water that can be sequestered, given there's about 10^18 tonnes of it in the world's oceans.
somat|2 years ago
In fact if I understand correctly this is the mechanism for a runaway greenhouse, that is, something like what happened to venus. Warmer temps allow for more water vapor in the atmosphere, due to it being such a good greenhouse gas, temps then build out of control as more and more water is vaporized.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas#Role_of_water_v...
Throw73849|2 years ago
There is also huge amount of natural CO2, single vulcano eruption... It is about reducing green house gas emissions generated by humans. And there are many artificial lakes, fields and forests that generate huge footprint on water vapour..
HPsquared|2 years ago
nvahalik|2 years ago
Just in case anyone is wondering... one of the simplest interactions has to do with daytime and nighttime cloud cover.
Daytime cloud cover causes shade, which _can_ lower temps below the clouds. At night, heat from the ground radiates up and clouds can block the radiated heat. This is why cloudless nights during winter are colder, and cloudy summer nights can be stifling.