I have been involved in a few discussions of global warming. There seems to be a school of thought that has concluded that second law precludes the greenhouse effect. They are convinced that IR cannot go from a cold object to a hot object.
For example, here is one incarnation ...
"Over and over again the interpretation goes something like this…..
A hot object transfers heat to a colder surface for example 100J.
The colder surface transfer heat to the warmer surface say 99J.
This they say satisfies the second law of thermodynamics.
Their reasoning is that the NET HEAT is from hot to cold.
I hope by now everyone who has paid attention knows that this is nonsense."
I have tried a few things, but does anyone here have any brilliant insights on how to respond to this? Or is trying to explain thermodynamics to a general audience on the web simply a hopeless task?