re: Is there proof that CO2 causes warming?

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Insofar as it contributes to atmospheric pressure, GP makes a reasoned argument it contributes substantially.

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Just think of it in terms of molecular weight. Get your periodic table out and do some addition.

Nitrogen which is in the from of molecular nitrogen is N2 and each atom shares three electrons to stay together. Nitrogen's atomic weight is approximately 14. So N2's molecular weight is 28. Nitrogen makes up about 79% of our atmosphere.

The next molecule is oxygen. It is also a diatomic molecule, O2 with a molecular weight of 32. Oxygen makes up about 20% of the atmosphere.

Then there is Argon and it's molecular weight is approximately 40. It makes up about 0.9% of the atmosphere.

Next is CO2. CO2 molecular weight is 44 and makes up about 0.04% of the atmosphere.

Finally you have the rest of the trace gases that fill out to 100%.

What I left out is water vapor. When water vapor is included and measured as "humidity" the percentages above change. But water vapor is very important. The water molecule has a molecular weight of approximately 18.

So lets list the atmospheric gases from lightest to heaviest (ignoring trace gases):

H20 at 18
N2 at 28
O2 at 32
Argon 40
CO2 at 44

Why is this important?

Because if there were no convection currents these gases would naturally stratify from the lightest on top to the heaviest on bottom. In fact that is what they want to do naturally.

This is why clouds form. H2O vapor is lighter than everything else so it rises above the heavier molecules, condenses to form clouds, condenses too much and rains.

Meanwhile as CO2 hugs the ground it provides food to lush vegetation at sea level and at higher elevations CO2 starts to diminish to the point were the environment gets too extreme for vegetation to grown...thus we have tree lines. (Note, I know tree lines are set a various elevations based on other local geographic factors).

I don't necessarily know what my point is here other than to say that the more you stack on top the more pressure you have on the bottom. And in terms of gases the higher the pressure the higher the temperature. So of course the more N2 you stack on top the greater the pressure that increases the temperature.

If we remove H20 and trace gases from the equation and assume the gases are evenly mixed the contribution of each gas to temperature using the IGL is as follows:

N2 - 68.8%
O2 - 19.9%
Ar - 11.25%
CO2 - 0.055%

Of course water cannot be ignored in real life. I just left it out here because water vapor concentrations vary widely.

But I do accept the notion from climate scientist that CO2 does the most efficient job of absorbing IR radiation of all atmospheric gases. What I disagree with is the IPCC's linear model between CO2 concentration and temperature. As I demonstrated in previous post the relationship between CO2 and temperature is logarithmic, not linear.