I will review physics and chemistry that impact earth's climate, and the problems associated with physically based climate models. Contrary to most model predictions, there has been no statistically significant change in the Earth's average surface temperature since the El Nino of 1998. No one is sure of the reason for this increasingly obvious discrepancy. One possibility is that because of neglect of normally inconsequential details of far-wing line shapes, the increase in radiative forcing from added CO₂, may have been exaggerated. It would be possible to eliminate some of the modeling uncertainties with appropriate experimental measurements.

Argonne Physics Division Colloquium Schedule