Publications About the Ozone Depletion Theory of Global Warming

This is a list of published papers as well as many papers that have either not been sent out for review by journal editors or that I never submitted to a journal for a variety of reasons. One problem questioning consensus science is thinking of reviewers to suggest who might evaluate the science as written rather than simply expressing opinions about conclusions. All papers written since 2006 are included here in case someone wishes to trace the development of my ideas and research.

Ward, P. L., 2020, The Photochemistry of Gas Molecules in Earth’s Atmosphere Determines the Structure of the Atmosphere and the Average Temperature at Earth’s Surface [PDF]

A molecule of oxygen absorbing solar ultraviolet-C radiation is photo-dissociated into two atoms of oxygen that fly apart at high velocity, converting kinetic energy of oscillation of the molecular bond directly and completely into kinetic energy of linear motion of the oxygen atoms. This increases air temperature. Two oxygen atoms can then collide forming a new oxygen molecule that can then be dissociated again as long as sufficient ultraviolet-C radiation exists. This continual dissociation of oxygen molecules is the primary reason for the stratopause being 30-40 degrees warmer than the tropopause and for all ultraviolet-C radiation being absorbed before reaching the lower stratosphere. Furthermore, an oxygen molecule and an oxygen atom can collide to form a molecule of ozone, which is photo-dissociated by solar ultraviolet-B radiation. Normally, 97-99 percent of ultraviolet-B radiation is absorbed in the ozone layer, warming the lower stratosphere. By 1970, however, humans manufacturing chlorofluorocarbon gases caused up to 70% depletion of ozone, cooling the ozone layer and allowing more ultraviolet-B to reach Earth where it photo-dissociates ground-level ozone pollution, raising air temperatures, especially in the most polluted areas. Ultraviolet-B also penetrates oceans tens of meters, efficiently raising ocean heat content. Earth’s surface warmed 0.6°C from 1970 to 1998 with warming twice as great in the northern hemisphere containing 90% of global population. In 2014, Bárðarbunga volcano in central Iceland extruded 85 km2 of basaltic lavas in six months, depleting the ozone layer and warming Earth another 0.3°C by 2016. Throughout Earth history, basaltic lava flows covering areas of up to millions of square kilometers are contemporaneous with sudden global warming—the larger the lava flow, the greater the warming. Large explosive volcanic eruptions, on the other hand, typically form aerosols in the lower stratosphere that spread throughout the world, reflecting and scattering sunlight, cooling Earth approximately 0.5°C for two to four years. Computer modelling shows the effects of this global cooling can still be observed in ocean temperatures a century later. Several large explosive volcanic eruptions per century, continuing for millennia, cool oceans incrementally down into ice-age conditions. Detailed measurements of air temperatures in ice cores at Summit Greenland over the past 122,000 years show that the footprints of climate change are sudden warming within years, followed by slow, incremental cooling over millennia, in highly erratic sequences averaging only a few thousand years in length. Ozone depletion and aerosols are particularly effective because they occur worldwide.

Ward, P. L., 2020, Heat does not physically flow in the ways assumed by greenhouse-warming theory [PDF]

Heat is currently defined as an amount of thermal energy flowing each second per unit area. Temperature is assumed to result from the net amount of heat flowing—the sum of all radiative forcings. Yet direct and unambiguous observations of Nature show that macroscopic temperature of solid matter results from a very broad spectrum of sub-microscopic oscillations of all the bonds holding matter together. Observed amplitudes of oscillation can be calculated for any temperature using Planck’s empirical law. Temperatures in Nature are averaged, not added. Similarly heats, which are also two-dimensional spectra of frequencies and amplitudes, must be averaged not added together. Temperature flows through matter, air, and space only from warm to cool by simultaneous resonance at all frequencies of oscillation. These new insights into temperature, heat, and thermal energy show several fatal problems with greenhouse warming theory and provide new ways to understand sub-microscopic physics.

Ward, P. L., 2018, A Most Inconvenient Reality—Greenhouse Gases Cannot Physically Explain Observed Global Warming [PDF] Declined without review by JGR Atmospheres. [Editor’s response]

Heat is what a body of matter must absorb to warm and must emit to cool. Most scientists and engineers assume that heat is some generic thing accurately quantified by a single numeric amount of thermal energy flowing per second in units of watts per square meter. While this approximation has proven useful in many cases, it fails when comparing solar ultraviolet radiation with terrestrial infrared radiation. Planck’s law, an equation formulated empirically to fit extensive laboratory measurements, shows that heat is not generic. Heat consists of a very broad continuum of frequencies of oscillation of all the bonds holding matter together. Thermal energy increases with frequency of oscillation. Each frequency has an amplitude of oscillation that increases with increasing temperature of the radiating body. Ultraviolet solar radiation is nearly 50-times more energetic than infrared terrestrial radiation no matter the amount. Amount of heat, on the other hand, is a function of the temperature difference between the emitting and absorbing bodies. Matter can only be heated by absorbing radiation from a hotter body containing higher frequencies of oscillation, with higher amplitudes of oscillation at each and every frequency of oscillation. This is why Earth cannot be heated in any way by its own radiation. Furthermore, a molecule of carbon dioxide gas does not absorb heat; it merely absorbs some spectral lines of thermal energy that are the molecule’s resonant frequencies of oscillation, making up less than 16% of the broad continuum of frequencies constituting the heat required to warm Earth.

Ward, P. L., 2018, Greenhouse gases cannot physically cause observed global warming—they absorb only spectral lines, not the required heat [PDF] Declined without review by Nature Communications. [Editor’s response]

Heat is what a body of matter must absorb to get warmer and must emit to cool. Greenhouse-warming theory assumes that heat is quantified as a single numeric amount of thermal energy flowing per second in units of watts per square meter. However, Planck’s law, an equation formulated empirically to fit extensive laboratory measurements, shows that heat consists of a very broad continuum of frequencies of oscillation of all the bonds holding matter together. Each frequency has an amplitude of oscillation that increases with increasing temperature of the body. Matter can only be heated by absorbing radiation from a hotter body containing higher frequencies of oscillation, with higher amplitudes of oscillation at every frequency. A molecule of carbon dioxide gas does not absorb heat; it merely absorbs some spectral lines of energy that are the molecule’s resonant frequencies of oscillation, making up less than 16% of the broad continuum of frequencies that constitutes the heat required to warm Earth.

Ward, P. L., 2018, Greenhouse gases cannot cause observed global warming—they absorb only spectral lines, not heat [PDF] Declined without review by Science. [Editor’s response]

Heat is what a body of matter absorbs when warming and loses when cooling. Traditionally, radiant heat is quantified as a single numeric amount of thermal energy per second flowing spontaneously through a surface area in units of watts per square meter. However, Planck’s law, an empirical equation formulated to fit extensive laboratory measurements, shows that heat consists of a very broad continuum of frequencies of oscillation where each frequency transmits thermal energy equal to the Planck constant times frequency—the energy of a single frictionless molecule-size oscillator. A molecule of carbon dioxide gas does not absorb heat; it merely absorbs spectral lines that are the molecule’s resonant frequencies of oscillation, making up less than 16% of the broad continuum required to constitute heat.

Ward, P. L., 2017, Volcanoes Rule Climate Change [PDF] Requested but then ultimately declined by Earth Magazine. [Earth Magazine Correspondence]

Ward, P. L., 2017, Experimental evidence for why greenhouse gases cannot be the primary cause of global warming : Distributed privately. [PDF]

Global mean surface temperatures warmed >1 ^oC since 1950, and warming from 1969 to 1998 may well have been caused by humans, but there are numerous reasons to question whether greenhouse gases can physically be the primary cause. Greenhouse-warming theory has never been verified by experiment, a cornerstone of the scientific method. This paper describes a simple, reproducible experiment showing that air containing more than 23 times normal CO₂ concentrations is warmed by absorbing infrared radiation only slightly more than normal air. Infrared radiant energy is absorbed into the bonds that hold each molecule of CO₂ together. This energy must then be converted by collision to translational velocity and partitioned among 2500 other gas molecules to increase air temperature. The efficiency and effects of such conversions have never been determined.

Ward, P. L., 2017, Global temperatures are determined by the level of kinetic energy, not by the amount: Distributed privately. [PDF]

Greenhouse-warming theory assumes thermal energy is a macroscopic extensive physical property where changes in amounts of radiative forcing are added together to calculate changes in global temperature. Thermal energy, however, is the microscopic oscillation of all bonds holding matter together, an intensive physical property that is not additive. Amount of thermal energy determines rate of warming, but level of thermal energy, the temperature of the radiating body, determines temperature increase.
Ultraviolet-B, the highest level of solar energy reaching the lower stratosphere, is normally absorbed by the ozone layer. When ozone is depleted, more ultraviolet-B is observed to reach Earth, cooling the stratosphere, warming Earth. Ozone depletion, caused by manufactured chlorofluorocarbon gases and emissions of chlorine and bromine from effusive basaltic volcanic eruptions, explains in detail observed erratic periods of rapid global warming throughout Earth history.

Ward, P. L., 2017, Thermal Flux Is a Broadband Continuum of energy: Distributed privately. [PDF]

Planck’s law, developed empirically to describe observed thermal radiation, shows that thermal energy in radiation and therefore in matter consists of a very broadband continuum of frequencies of oscillation, each with a unique amplitude of oscillation. A body, to be warmed, must absorb radiation from a hotter body with higher amplitudes of oscillation, especially at higher frequencies of oscillation. Heat flows via resonance, increasing the amplitude of oscillation at every frequency of oscillation, especially at higher frequencies. Thermal flux, therefore, varies by frequency and cannot be summarized accurately as a single number of watts per square meter.

Ward, P. L., 2017, The physics of global warming: Distributed privately. [PDF]

Temperature at the stratopause, 50 km above Earth, is maintained ~50^oC warmer than temperature at the tropopause, 7 to 20 km above Earth, primarily by ultraviolet-C solar radiation dissociating oxygen, which makes up 21% of Earth’s atmosphere. Dissociation turns bond energy efficiently into atmospheric temperature by causing molecular pieces to fly apart at high velocity. Gas temperature is proportional to the average velocity of all gas molecules squared. Absorption of infrared radiation, however, by carbon dioxide, making up only 0.04% of the atmosphere, has yet to be shown experimentally to actually warm air the 0.7^oC observed globally since 1945.
The ozone layer, primarily 15 to 30 km above Earth, normally absorbs most ultraviolet-B solar radiation energetic enough to dissociate ozone, keeping the lower stratosphere warm. When total column ozone is depleted, more ultraviolet-B radiation is observed to reach Earth, cooling the lower stratosphere and warming Earth. This radiation dissociates ground-level ozone pollution, warming near surface temperatures, and penetrates tens of meters into oceans causing observed increases in ocean heat content.
By the late 1960s, major increases in the manufacture of chlorofluorocarbon gases (CFCs) led to an increase in global warming. The Montreal Protocol, effective in 1989, mandated major cutbacks in CFC production. By 1993, increases in CFCs stopped. By 1995, increases in ozone depletion stopped. By 1998, increases in global temperatures stopped. Ozone is also depleted by effusive basaltic volcanic eruptions, the largest of which since 1783 occurred in 2014-2015 causing global temperatures to rise sharply again.

Ward, P. L., 2016, On the Planck-Einstein Relation [PDF]. Declined without review by the New Journal of Physics [NJP Editor Response] Distributed privately.

The Planck-Einstein relation (E=hν), a formula integral to quantum mechanics, says that a quantum of energy (E), commonly thought of as a photon, is equal to the Planck constant (h) times a frequency of oscillation of an atomic oscillator (ν, the Greek letter nu). Yet frequency is not quantized—frequency of electromagnetic radiation is well known in Nature to be a continuum extending over at least 18 orders of magnitude from extremely low frequency (low-energy) radio signals to extremely high-frequency (high-energy) gamma rays. Therefore, electromagnetic energy (E), which simply equals a scaling constant times a continuum, must also be a continuum. We must conclude, therefore, that electromagnetic energy is not quantized at the microscopic level as widely assumed. Secondly, it makes no physical sense in Nature to add frequencies of electromagnetic radiation together in air or space—red light plus blue light does not equal ultraviolet light. Therefore, if E=hν, then it makes no physical sense to add together electromagnetic energies that are commonly thought of as photons. The purpose of this paper is to look at the history of E=hν and to examine the implications of accepting E=hν as a valid description of physical reality. Recognizing the role of E=hν makes the fundamental physics studied by quantum mechanics both physically intuitive and deterministic.

Ward, P. L., 2016, Problems with the physics of greenhouse warming: Distributed privately. [PDF]

The world is warming, but are we absolutely sure that greenhouse gases are the culprit? Planck’s law shows us that temperature in matter is the result of a very broad continuum of frequencies of oscillation of the bonds holding matter together. Greenhouse gases absorb only a very small part of this continuum. The thermal energy absorbed by greenhouse gases increases the internal energy of the bonds; its effect on the temperature of air has yet to be measured experimentally. Energy in radiation is equal to frequency times a constant meaning ultraviolet-B radiation reaching Earth when ozone is depleted is 48 times more energetic than infrared absorbed most strongly by carbon dioxide. The higher the thermal energy, the higher the temperature to which the absorbing body can be raised. Current climate models assume that energy is additive, overestimating infrared energy and underestimating ultraviolet energy. Ozone depletion provides a much clearer, more direct, and more complete explanation for the details of observed changes in warming since 1945 and throughout Earth history.

Ward, P. L., 2016, Radiant thermal energy is not additive: Distributed privately. [PDF]

There are at least 16 different types of energy. Macroscopic types, usually described by classical mechanics, are associated with net linear displacement or deformation of matter, are a function of the mass or extent of the system under study, and thus have extensive physical properties that can typically be added together. Microscopic types of energy, on the other hand, studied most often using quantum mechanics, are typically associated with microscopic oscillations of all the bonds that hold matter together, are pervasive throughout the system, and thus have intensive physical properties that typically cannot be added together. Recognizing that microscopic energy is proportional to the frequency of oscillation of these bonds and is not proportional to the amplitude of oscillation or to mass, helps us understand why climate models currently overestimate the energy absorbed by greenhouse gases and why quantum mechanics is so physically unintuitive.

Ward, P. L., 2016, Ozone depletion explains global warming: Current Physical Chemistry, v. 6, no. 4, p. 275-296. [PDF].

Background: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concldes that anthropogenic greenhouse gases are extremely likely to have been the dominant cause of observed global warming. Depletion of the ozone layer by manufactured chlorofluorocarbon gases and volcanic eruptions, however, provides a much more detailed and precise explanation for changes in climate observed since the industrial revolution and throughout geologic history. Climate models currently calculate that infrared thermal energy absorbed by greenhouse gases is greater than ultraviolet thermal energy reaching earth when ozone is depleted, yet we all know we get hotter standing in ultraviolet sunlight than in infrared radiation welling up from earth at night.
Objective: To understand the physics of how ozone depletion could be a better explanation for observed warming.
Method: Recognizing that thermal energy is the oscillations of all the degrees of freedom of all the bonds holding matter together, that energy of each atomic oscillator is equal to the Planck constant times the frequency of each oscillation, and that this energy is an intensive physical property that is therefore not additive, we examine from first principles how thermal energy flows via electromagnetic radiation.
Results: Radiant thermal energy is not a function of bandwidth as currently calculated. It is a function only of frequency of oscillation. The higher the frequency, the higher the temperature to which the absorbing body will be raised. Intensity and amount of radiation only determine the rate of warming.
Conclusions: Ozone depletion provides a more precise explanation for observed global warming than greenhouse-warming theory.

Ward, P. L., 2015, The thermodynamics of climate change, submitted to Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics on 5/17/15 [PDF] Editor’s decision and discussion.

When you stand in sunlight, you feel hot, but when you stand outside at night, you feel cool, even on a warm night. Why? Because Sun emits ultraviolet radiation that is hot enough to burn your skin, while Earth emits infrared radiation that is, on average, 21°C cooler than your body. Computer models based on greenhouse-gas theory have this backward. They calculate that Earth is heated more by its own infrared radiation than by Sun’s ultraviolet radiation. Your personal experience strongly suggests that these models are wrong. In this paper we show that thermal energy consists of the frequencies and amplitudes of oscillation of all the degrees of freedom of all the bonds that hold matter together. These frequencies and amplitudes of oscillation on the surface of matter transmit thermal energy through air and space as electromagnetic radiation. Climate models assume that electromagnetic radiation (EMR) travels as waves through space, but that assumption is unwarranted because the physical properties of EMR and mechanical waves in matter are very different. Observations of climate change can be explained quite clearly by ozone depletion. Ozone absorbs ultraviolet radiation from Sun, warming the ozone layer 20 to 30 km above Earth’s surface. When there is less ozone, more of this hot ultraviolet radiation is observed to reach Earth’s surface, warming Earth instead of the ozone layer.

Ward, P. L., 2015, Chapter 54. The ozone depletion theory of global warming: International Conference on Geoscience and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen, China, November 16-17, in Chan, K., ed., Future Communication Technology and Engineering: Proceedings of the 2014 International Conference on Future Communication Technology and Engineering (FCTE 2014), Shenzhen, China, 16-17 November 2014, CRC Press, p. 253-259. [PDF] [Book online] [Book]

Mean global surface temperatures have remained essentially constant since 1998 while carbon-dioxide concentrations continue to increase. Record high temperatures and drought were common in North America during 2012-2013, while record rains flooded England. Here we show that ozone depletion caused by anthropogenic chlorofluorocarbons and small, effusive volcanic eruptions explains these and other climate anomalies clearly. The highest-energy ultraviolet-B radiation from the sun is normally absorbed by the ozone layer in the lower stratosphere. When ozone is depleted, as observed since 1970, more ultraviolet-B energy is measured reaching Earth. Greenhouse-gas theory underestimates the thermal effects of ozone depletion be-cause it assumes electromagnetic radiation propagates as waves in space. Radiation transfers thermal energy as frequency, not wavelength. The thermal energy in ultraviolet-B radiation is 48 times the thermal energy in infrared radiation absorbed by greenhouse gases. There simply is not enough thermal energy absorbed by greenhouse gases to cause observed global warming.

Ward, P. L., 2014, The ozone depletion theory of global warming submitted to Nature on April 7, 2014. [PDF]

Nature: April 10, 2014: As you may know, we decline a substantial proportion of manuscripts without sending them to referees, so that they may be sent elsewhere without delay. In such cases, even if referees were to certify the manuscript as technically correct, we do not believe that it represents a development of sufficient scientific impact to warrant publication in Nature. These editorial judgements are based on such considerations as the degree of advance provided, the breadth of potential interest to researchers and timeliness.

In this case, we do not feel that your paper has matched our criteria for further consideration. We therefore feel that the paper would find a more suitable outlet in another journal, and I am sorry that we cannot respond more positively on this occasion.

Nature Climate Change: April 11, 2014: We receive many more papers than we can publish, which means we must decline a substantial proportion of manuscripts without sending them to referees, so that they may be sent elsewhere without delay. Decisions of this kind are made by the editorial staff when it appears that, even if certified as being technically correct during peer review, there would not be a strong case for publication in Nature Climate Change. Among the considerations that arise at this stage are the immediacy of interest for the wider climate research community, the degree of advance provided, and the like.

In the current case, I am reluctant to sound as though we are merely repeating my colleague’s assessment of your submission to Nature – Nature Climate Change is editorially independent of Nature, and its editorial decisions have no bearing on our own. I regret, however, that we are unable to conclude that the paper meets our criteria for further consideration. We therefore feel that the present paper would find a more appropriate outlet in another journal, rather than Nature Climate Change.

Ward, P. L., 2014, On the link between ozone depletion and global warming submitted to Science on Febrary 24, 2014. [PDF]

March 5, 2014: Although your analysis is interesting, we feel that the scope and focus of your paper make it more appropriate for a more specialized journal. We are therefore notifying you so that you can seek publication elsewhere.

We now receive many more interesting papers than we can publish. We, therefore, send for in-depth review only those papers most likely to be ultimately published in Science. Papers are selected on the basis of discipline, novelty, and general significance, in addition to the usual criteria for publication in specialized journals. Therefore, our decision is not necessarily a reflection of the quality of your research but rather of our stringent space limitations.

Ward, P. L., 2014, Letter sent to the Editor of Science on March 7, 2014, to which there was no reply. [PDF]

Ward, P. L., 2012, Global warming can be explained by depletion of stratospheric ozone caused by human activities and by volcanism submitted to Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics on May 27, 2013. [PDF]

June 28, 2013: We apologize that we were not able to find Editors ready to handle your manuscript through the regular Editor call procedure. Therefore, the Editor assignment process has been interrupted.

If you would still like to have your manuscript reviewed and published in ACP, please contact directly the Editors covering the relevant subject areas. If one of them agrees to take the editorship for your manuscript, please let us know and we will assign it accordingly. An overview of all [150] editorial board members can be found at: https://www.atmospheric-chemistry-and-physics.net/general_information/editorial_and_advisory_board.html

Please note that we try but are not always able to avoid such situations, which tend to occur mostly (albeit not exclusively) with manuscripts at the edge or outside the journal scope which is focused on studies with general implications for atmospheric science rather than investigations that are primarily of local or technical interest. We regret that we cannot be more positive at this time, and we hope for your understanding.

Ward, P. L., 2012, Ozone depletion enhanced by volcanism is a primary cause of global warming submitted to Nature November 22, 2012 [PDF]

Nature: November 29, 2012: As you may know, we decline a substantial proportion of manuscripts without sending them to referees, so that they may be sent elsewhere without delay. In such cases, even if referees were to certify the manuscript as technically correct, we do not believe that it represents a development of sufficient scientific impact to warrant publication in Nature. These editorial judgments are based on such considerations as the degree of advance provided, the breadth of potential interest to researchers and timeliness.

Nature Climate Change: December 3, 2012: We receive many more papers than we can publish, which means we must decline a substantial proportion of manuscripts without sending them to referees, so that they may be sent elsewhere without delay. Decisions of this kind are made by the editorial staff when it appears that, even if certified as being technically correct during peer review, there would not be a strong case for publication in Nature Climate Change. Among the considerations that arise at this stage are the immediacy of interest for the wider climate research community, the degree of advance provided, and the like.

In the present case, we have no doubt that your findings regarding the role of ozone in global warming will be of interest to fellow specialists. I regret, however, that we are unable to conclude that the paper provides the sort of conceptual advance in our understanding of contributing forces to climate change in our space limitations that would be likely to excite the immediate interest of researchers across the breadth of the climate community. We therefore feel that the manuscript would find a more suitable outlet in another journal, rather than Nature Climate Change. I am sorry that we cannot respond more positively, and I hope that you will understand that our decision in no way reflects any doubts about the quality of the work reported. I hope that you will rapidly receive a more favorable response elsewhere.

Nature Geoscience: December 18, 2012: Among the considerations that arise at this stage are the likely interest of a manuscript to a broad readership of geoscientists, the pressure on space in the various fields of interest covered by Nature Geoscience and the likelihood that a manuscript would seem of great topical interest to those working in the same or related areas of the Earth sciences.

In the present case, I regret that we are unable to conclude that the paper provides the sort of compelling conceptual advance in scientific understanding that would be likely to excite the immediate interest of researchers in a broad range of the geosciences.

Ward, P. L., 2012, Three Puzzling Observations Regarding Global Warming> 2012, Distributed privately. [PDF]

Atmospheric concentrations of CO₂ increased 6.8% since 1998 while mean global surface temperatures remained relatively constant. How can this divergence be explained if temperature is primarily a function of CO₂ concentration? Ice-layers beneath Summit Greenland containing the highest concentrations of volcanic sulfate also contain the δ¹⁸O evidence for the greatest increases in temperature. How can volcanism be associated with warming when explosive volcanoes clearly cause cooling of up to 0.5^oC over 3 years? CO₂ concentrations during two of the four major glacial epochs in the past 540 million years were five to ten times greater than preindustrial values. What is the relationship of CO₂ to ice ages? The most efficient heating of the atmosphere is caused by photodissociation of molecular oxygen, ozone, and nitrogen dioxide at ultraviolet wavelengths. Global warming past and present appears to be caused primarily by thinning of the ozone layer allowing more photodissociation in the troposphere.

Ward, P. L., 2012, Volcanism, ozone depletion, global warming, and the drought of 2012 submitted to Science on October 23, 2012 [PDF]

November 7, 2012: Thank you for submitting your manuscript “Volcanism, Ozone Depletion, Global Warming, and the Drought of 2012” to Science. Because your manuscript was not given a high priority rating during the initial screening process, we will not be able to send it out for in-depth review. Although your analysis is interesting, we feel that the scope and focus of your paper make it more appropriate for a more specialized journal. We are therefore notifying you so that you can seek publication elsewhere.

We now receive many more interesting papers than we can publish. We therefore send for in-depth review only those papers most likely to be ultimately published in Science. Papers are selected on the basis of discipline, novelty, and general significance, in addition to the usual criteria for publication in specialized journals. Therefore, our decision is not necessarily a reflection of the quality of your research but rather of our stringent space limitations.

Ward, P. L., 2011, The primary role of solar-ultraviolet-energy-absorbing gases in global warming submitted to Science on April 25, 2011 [PDF]

April 28, 2011: Because your manuscript was not given a high priority rating during the initial screening process, we will not be able to send it out for in-depth review. Although your analysis is interesting, we feel that the scope and focus of your paper make it more appropriate for a more specialized journal. We are therefore notifying you so that you can seek publication elsewhere.

Ward, P. L., 2010, Understanding volcanoes may be the key to controlling global warming: Society of Vacuum Coaters Bulletin, Summer, p. 26-34. [PDF]

I was invited to give the Plenary Address on April 18, 2010, opening the 2010 Technical Conference of the Society of Vacuum Coaters with the agreement that I would provide this paper for their summer Bulletin.

Ward, P. L., 2009, Sulfur dioxide initiates global climate change in four ways: Thin Solid Films, v. 517, no. 11, p. 3188-3203, doi:10.1016/j.tsf.2009.01.005. [PDF] [Table S1 PDF] [Table S1 XLS] [References PDF]

This paper compiles a wide variety of data on volcanic activity and climate in the last 100 years, during and since the last ice age, and throughout the past 542 million years. These data are the primary contribution of this paper and are still the most detailed compilations available.