Second Law of Thermodynamics

At http://scienceofdoom.com/2010/05/08/radiation-basics-and-the-imaginary-second-law-of-thermodynamics/ is the second post at this site concerning sceptic arguments that cite the Second Law of Thermodynamics – usually in a puffed and fillibusting manner. The second law is supposed to contradict global warming, and popped up online and in print at American Thinker, a Republican orientated magazine that very often has some interesting articles. In this case one of them is being taken to task – and I’ve seen the Second Law cited on a number of occasions (but never taken seriously by blogs such as Climate Audit). The Science of Doom post is the pro-global warming response – and it’s got a lot of maths as the author readily admits. It concerns radiation from the Sun heating the surface of the Earth – with a large proportion of it relected back into space (and some of it held back by the atmosphere).