<p>I am not a scientist but how does carbon dioxide make its way to the upper atmosphere form fossil fuel burning if it is heavier than oxygen (air), especially as the air is thinner in the upper as you go higher in the atmosphere</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-16T03:41:34.943Z
It may be helpful to indicate where you've gathered this concept that CO2 is accumulating in the upper atmosphere.
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-16T04:19:14.970Z
https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2020/09/23/carbon-dioxide-distribution-atmosphere/ it looks to me like your statement is wrong about the accumulation in the upper atmosphere.
trond hansen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-16T04:26:54.190Z
that link does not explain where the carbon dioxide
rhett
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-16T04:28:18.023Z
as anon scientist - to have a greenhouse effect does the carbon dioxide not have to be in the upper atmosphere to get a greenhouse radiation temperature effect.
rhett
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-16T17:34:15.317Z
this might be helpful in understanding how co2 trap and re emits heat https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2021/02/25/carbon-dioxide-cause-global-warming/ i do not know why this website is on top of the google searches today.
trond hansen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-18T17:26:30.320Z
@rhett I would think being anywhere in the atmosphere would allow it to have that effect... why would it need to be high in the atmosphere particularly?  The sunlight goes through the atmosphere without heating it much at all on the way down (aside from the ozone layer), because it is mostly in the visible/UV spectrum, then the ground emits primarily at longwave which it absorbed and significantly returned to Earth by those greenhouse gases... nothing in that really says the greenhouse gases have to be at any particular height.
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-18T17:30:51.403Z
That said, the troposphere (which is only the lowest subsection of the atmosphere) is generally well mixed because of significant wind and thermals, such that gases tend towards being equally concentrated despite mass.  But only in that lowest region, roughly 10 miles thick, though.  (Even so, the mass of all gases decreases with height significantly due to lower pressure/density, so much more CO2, just as much more O2 and N2 and everything else, is in the lower part of the troposphere than in the higher part.  It's just isn't because it has more mass.)
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-20T01:24:04.360Z
@JeopardyTempest - CO2 higher up is where IR radiation from GHG's gets out to space; concentration at high troposphere to mid stratosphere are critical. More CO2 blocks more upper atmosphere radiation out to space so it must occur at a higher elevation, where it is thinner and colder. It radiates more slowly. Top of Atmosphere is where the principle changes between energy in and energy out is occurring - lower down it is changing surface temperatures but not changing the overall difference between energy coming in and going out to space.
Ken Fabian
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-20T01:27:55.723Z
@rhett - at small scales diffusion keeps CO2 mixed. At large scales winds and convection mix them, with thunderstorms able to carry it from ground level to above 50,000 ft in one go. Separation by gravity doesn't have a chance.
Ken Fabian
<climate-change><temperature><carbon-cycle>
How does carbon dioxide accumulate in the upper atmosphere if it is heavier than air
rhett
# How does carbon dioxide accumulate in the upper atmosphere if it is heavier than air

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-04-16)

I am not a scientist but how does carbon dioxide make its way to the upper atmosphere form fossil fuel burning if it is heavier than oxygen (air), especially as the air is thinner in the upper as you go higher in the atmosphere

**Tags:** climate-change, temperature, carbon-cycle

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It may be helpful to indicate where you've gathered this concept that CO2 is accumulating in the upper atmosphere.  
> **username_2**: https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2020/09/23/carbon-dioxide-distribution-atmosphere/ it looks to me like your statement is wrong about the accumulation in the upper atmosphere.  
> **username_0**: that link does not explain where the carbon dioxide  
> **username_0**: as anon scientist - to have a greenhouse effect does the carbon dioxide not have to be in the upper atmosphere to get a greenhouse radiation temperature effect.  
> **username_2**: this might be helpful in understanding how co2 trap and re emits heat https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2021/02/25/carbon-dioxide-cause-global-warming/ i do not know why this website is on top of the google searches today.  
> **username_1**: @username_0 I would think being anywhere in the atmosphere would allow it to have that effect... why would it need to be high in the atmosphere particularly?  The sunlight goes through the atmosphere without heating it much at all on the way down (aside from the ozone layer), because it is mostly in the visible/UV spectrum, then the ground emits primarily at longwave which it absorbed and significantly returned to Earth by those greenhouse gases... nothing in that really says the greenhouse gases have to be at any particular height.  
> **username_1**: That said, the troposphere (which is only the lowest subsection of the atmosphere) is generally well mixed because of significant wind and thermals, such that gases tend towards being equally concentrated despite mass.  But only in that lowest region, roughly 10 miles thick, though.  (Even so, the mass of all gases decreases with height significantly due to lower pressure/density, so much more CO2, just as much more O2 and N2 and everything else, is in the lower part of the troposphere than in the higher part.  It's just isn't because it has more mass.)  
> **username_3**: @username_1 - CO2 higher up is where IR radiation from GHG's gets out to space; concentration at high troposphere to mid stratosphere are critical. More CO2 blocks more upper atmosphere radiation out to space so it must occur at a higher elevation, where it is thinner and colder. It radiates more slowly. Top of Atmosphere is where the principle changes between energy in and energy out is occurring - lower down it is changing surface temperatures but not changing the overall difference between energy coming in and going out to space.  
> **username_3**: @username_0 - at small scales diffusion keeps CO2 mixed. At large scales winds and convection mix them, with thunderstorms able to carry it from ground level to above 50,000 ft in one go. Separation by gravity doesn't have a chance.  

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