Andy May: “The Sun vs CO2” | Tom Nelson Pod #389

About this episode

Andy May discusses the relationship between solar radiation and greenhouse gases in the context of Earth's energy balance and ocean heat content.

Andy May discusses how Earth’s energy imbalance and ocean heat content relate to solar radiation versus greenhouse-gas downwelling IR. He argues IR photons are lower energy and absorbed in the ocean’s top micrometers–millimeter (thermal/electromagnetic skin), so it cannot directly heat the mixed layer; instead it may reduce upward heat loss by altering the skin-layer temperature gradient, while sunlight penetrates meters to greater than 100 m and warms the bulk ocean. He critiques NASA-style energy-flow diagrams for confusing one-way radiative fluxes (e.g., 340 W/m²) with net heat (e.g., 58 W/m²). He highlights large uncertainties in EEI and OHC due to sparse, inconsistent datasets, cool-skin effects, short Argo-era records, and oscillations like AMO/ENSO, making partitioning of causes uncertain. 00:00 Sun vs CO2 Setup 00:35 Why IR Differs 02:52 Ocean Skin Layers 05:48 Photon Energy Debate 07:55 Cool Skin Impacts 10:01 Energy Diagram Myths 13:33 EEI and OHC Limits 18:17 Ocean Data Disagreements 23:55 Surface EEI Variability 26:38 IR Cannot Heat Deep 29:51 Bottom Line Uncertainty 31:18 Q&A and Critiques 34:52 Modeling and Coverage 36:41 Regional Trend Map 41:21 Closing…

People in this episode

Host: Thomas Nelson

Guest: Andy May

Topics covered

• solar radiation
• greenhouse gases
• ocean heat content
• energy imbalance
• climate science

Keywords

• solar radiation
• greenhouse gases
• ocean heat content
• energy imbalance
• IR photons
• cool-skin effects
• energy-flow diagrams

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NASA

More episodes of Tom Nelson

• Emmet Connor: “Red Pandemic: The Global Marxist Cult” | Tom Nelson Pod #402 · June 12, 2026 · 1h 1m
• Ronald Stein: “California Refinery Crisis” | Tom Nelson Pod #401 · June 9, 2026 · 52 min
• John Parmentola: “How could Sea Levels Fall by 400 Feet During an Ice Age?” | Tom Nelson Pod #400 · June 5, 2026 · 1h 14m
• Mel Counts: “Olympic Gold; Played With Bill Russell, Wilt, Havlicek & West” | Tom Nelson Pod #399 · June 3, 2026 · 50 min
• Marc Morano: “Great Reject: Triumphant Trump Dismantles the Climate Agenda” | Tom Nelson Pod #398 · May 31, 2026 · 1h 26m
• Raymond Inauen: “Excellent website: The World of CO2” | Tom Nelson Pod #397 · May 28, 2026 · 36 min