Actually, the hypothesis of carbon dioxide mediated global warming was proposed following the observation that CO2 has an unusually wide and strong fluorescent absorption/emission band in the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Every pure substance has electromagnetic radiation frequencies at which it is fluorescent, but these are usually fairly narrow bands. Someone hypothesized that the wide fluorescent band of CO2 within the infrared would cause warming. However, it would only cause warming if it were converting some visible wavelength to infrared--which is not happening. The other thing that happens with fluorescence is that a tiny amount of light energy is retained by the atom or molecule when it absorbs and emits light in the fluorescence process. Since that energy retention always happens, and it is not unique to infrared fluorescence, there is no reason to think that its effect in CO2 would cause unusual warming.
< /technobabble >
Thanks for clearing it all up.
Where did that come from?
I like it whether it’s true or not.
Well that really is technobabble. Nothing causes warming on earth except the sun and very minor amount from geothermal energy. CO2 in some cases reduces radiational cooling (longwave) but its effect is very minor compared to water vapor. Think about cold desert nights compared to warm humid Miami nights. Is CO2 important in reducing that cooling? Not really.