Erratum to “Autonomous Changes in the Concentration of Water Vapor Drive Climate Change” [Atmospheric and Climate Sciences 10 (2020) 443-508]

The original online version of this Article (Van Brunt, W., Autonomous Changes in the Concentration of Water Vapor Drive Climate Change, Atmospheric and Climate Sciences 2020, 10, 443-508, DOI: 10.4236/acs.2020.104025) was published with certain minor errors and omissions. The author wished to correct the errors to:


Introduction
As shown below, the changes in the concentration of water vapor, ∆TPW, (the difference between the total rate of average global evaporation compared to the total rate of average global precipitation, over the same time period), drive changes in water vapor surface heating, ΔWV, which in turn drive changes in the concentration of water vapor. This can, continue in an autonomous positive feedback loop.
Until that is understood, appropriate solutions found and implemented, this is an ever increasing potential threat to humankind. The good news is that this problem, including the reduction of past increases, at least theoretically, lends itself to solutions.
Between 1880 and 2019, the energy of Earth's land surface increased by 0.7%, an average increase of 0.005% per year, which is greater than the increase in the surface energy of the seas. No appreciable fraction of the radiant energy heating the surface is stored in the land. Therefore, determining the average annual change in average global temperature from a change in average total heating is a straightforward exercise in thermodynamics. Deduct the percentage of total heating that drives evaporation and thermal convection and, given that the average surface radiation, Rad U, cannot exceed the remaining net heating, NaH, for small changes in net heating, the change in the average surface temperature from temperature T o is, These hindsight comparisons illustrate the failings of these models.

New Principles
Therefore, new Principles to first determine changes in the average concentration of water vapor and then the changes in heating and surface temperature these changes drive, are set out. (The derivation of all of these principles is set out in Appendix 1).
Therefore, wholly new Principles of climate physics for calculating changes in the concentration of water vapor and water vapor heating and resulting changes in average global temperature have been developed. (The derivation of all of these principles is set out in Appendix 1.) The results of the application of these principles are set out and prove that: That Equation (1) is correct can also be seen from Figure 5 showing the average global concentration of water vapor and the computed concentration of water vapor, TPW, calculated in accordance with Equation (1) for the years 1996-2007, set out in Table 1 and shown as green dots, along with their trendline (dashed red line).
• And after comments such as "…rising average temperature increases evaporation rates and atmospheric water vapor concentrations," a wholly unproven and misconceived, common follow on is something to the effect that, since, "Water vapor cannot itself catalyze temperature increases in the short time (estimated at around 10 days) that a discrete water vapor influx would remain before precipitating out. A sustained increase in tropospheric water vapor requires a strong external forcing to provide the initial temperature increase [10]." Then the resulting increase in temperature would be an annual increase of

1.25˚C
However, with the theoretical effects of CO 2 excluded, Equation (4) still overstates the temperature increase in violation of Kirchoff's law and the first law of thermodynamics. 114 out of 139% or 82% are higher than actual, some as great as 0.1˚C. (This is likely due to the fact that the effects of changes in cloud cover are not taken into account in Equation (4)) Therefore, Equation (4) is also not advanced as correct.
Why is CO 2 Irrelevant? • Finally note that, "The average frequency of emission for CO 2 is 1.6 times lower than that of the other considered gases. Therefore, the energy efficiency of the resulting CO 2 emission, proportional to ω, is almost five times lower than that of the other gases. The results of employing this relationsship to determine the average global temperature is shown in Figure 12. Given the correlation shown in Figure 11, the small effects on temperature change from changes in in cloud cover appear to also be a function of to changes in the concentration of water vapor.
The results from the application of Equation (5) have a correlation coefficient of 09976, exceeding the average global temperature 68% of the time, but never by more by more than 0.05˚C, which is itself well within the error band of average global temperature estimates for the period in which this occurred, 1904- It is clear therefore, that Equation In 1977 was the year of the largest single year increase in the concentration of water vapor since 1880, 0.74 kg•m −2 or 4%, which was the start of a major and continuing increase. Before that, the concentration of water vapor increased at a rate of 0.002 kg•m −2 per year and after 1977 at a rate of 0.06 kg•m −2 per year, corresponding to an increase of 3.3% per decade.
From Figure 4, Figure 11, Figure 13, this chart and this expression, it is evident that this increase in average global temperature ΔT Avg is ongoing and the result of the change in average global water vapor concentration, △TPW, continuing in an autonomous, roughly 3.5 year, positive feedback cycle.

Discussion
Since 1976, changes in total heating, ∆TH, have been the primary driver of evaporation. The resulting increase in water vapor, ∆TPW ∆TH and water vapor heating, ∆WV ∆TH , which is the most significant change in heating, is responsible, on average, for ~ 60% of water vapor heating. Since 1976, changes in total heating, ΔTH, have been the primary driver of evaporation. The resulting increase in water vapor, ΔTPW ∆TH and water vapor heating, ΔWV ∆TH , which is the most significant change in heating, is responsible, on average, for ~ 60% of water vapor heating.  Figure 11) and an average accuracy of ±0.14%.

Results
In 1977 there was the largest single year increase in the concentration of water vapor since 1880, 0.74 kg•m −2 or 4%, which was the start of a major and continuing increase. Before that, the concentration of water vapor increased at a rate of 0.002 kg•m −2 per year and after 1977 at a rate of 0.05 kg•m −2 per year, which cor-responded to an increase of 4% per decade.
Referring to Equations (3) & (5) and Figure 4, there can be no doubt that changes in the concentration of water vapor drive changes in water vapor heating and therefore, in average global temperature. The correlation coefficient between changes in water vapor concentration and average global temperature is 0.9953. Changes in water vapor heating drive changes in evaporation. To the extent that the average evaporative rate exceeds the average rate of precipitation, the concentration of water vapor will increase. There is no drag on the system. This a classic positive feedback loop, which means that, absent some external intervention, as long as this imbalance continues, global warming will increase. See Figure 15.

Conclusion
In Sum This is not an exercise in hypothetical, probabilistic based forecasting, estimations or assumption-based science applied in modeling the effects of changes in the concentration of CO 2 .
This work is based solely upon the straightforward application of thermodynamic principles to determine what provided the change in average global total heating required to account for the very small changes in annual average global absolute temperature from 1880 to 2019 of only 0.4% and year to year average changes of 0.0028%.
Given, these miniscule changes and that the determination of changes in the concentration of water vapor from Equation (1) are premised upon changes in exponential functions tied to changes in the average global sea surface temperature and changes in total heating based upon changes in land temperature raised to the fourth power, alone, if the calculation of changes in average global temperature from Equation (5), which is based solely upon changes in the concentration of water vapor, did not accurately match the average global temperature, Equation (5) should be called into question.
That is not the case. The results from the application of Equation (1) to determine changes in the concentration of water vapor from 1880 closely track the recent measurements of total precipitable water.
The results from the application of Equations (4) & (5) to determine changes in the average global temperature from the calculated changes in the concentration of water vapor, track, almost exactly, changes in the average global temperature.
The calculations of average global temperature based on Equation (5) have a correlation coefficient of 0.9976, with an average accuracy of ±0.14%, when measured in degrees C (which is a far more rigorous comparison than if it were measured in Kelvin, since the Celsius measurement is an order of magnitude smaller) and thus, prove the validity of Equation (5).
Therefore, Equation (5) is advanced as The Principle of Climate Physics accounting for climate change which proves that Climate change is a function of changes in the concentration of water vapor.

The Future
The climate reached a tipping point in 1977 when, compared to 1880, the concentration of water vapor jumped by 4%, the greatest short-term increase since then. Thereafter, the rate of increase in evaporation on average, continued to exceed the rate of increase in precipitation.
However, if the atmospheric density of CCN can be increased to the point that average annual precipitation can again equal or exceed average annual evaporation, global warming can not only be halted-it can be reversed. There can, at least in theory, be an immediate resolution.

1) Changes in the Concentration of Water Vapor
The total concentration of water vapor, total precipitable water (TPW Tot ), is the sum of the concentration of water vapor from steady state evaporation as a function of sea surface temperature, TPW SST and changes in concentration in response to changes in total heating, ΔTPW ∆TH . Since changes in evaporative power are proportional to changes in total heating, And, for changes in the evaporative power, therefore changes in total heating, ΔTH, the change in water vapor concentration driven by changes in total heating, ΔTPW∆THO is Δ TPW Δ THO = Γ Δ Evapo From The change in average global temperature, ∆T Avg , is the area weighted average of changes in land, ∆T L , and ocean temperature, ∆T SST . Therefore, with the seas covering 71.11% of the surface and land 28.89%, the change in average global temperature is, The theoretical change in heating driven by changes in the concentration, C,