The Earth's Atmosphere is Storing Energy Twice as Quickly as it did 15 Years ago

These days it seems you can't walk through a bookstore without bumping into a book or magazine pointing out the negative consequences of climate change. Everything from the hottest years on record to ruining astronomy can be tied to climate change. Now some new science lays another potential problem at climate change's feet - the Earth is retaining more than twice as much heat annually as it was 15 years ago.

A team from NASA and NOAA found that the Earth's "energy imbalance" doubled between 2005 and 2019. The energy imbalance is simple to understand but complex in its causes and impacts. It is the difference between the amount of energy absorbed by the Earth and the amount of energy emitted by it. Any increase in the energy imbalance means the overall Earth system is gaining energy, causing it to heat up.

Simple explanation of the energy imbalance.Credit - NASAeClips YouTube Channel

To quantify this change, the team used data from two separate sources - NASA's Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) and a system run by NOAA called Argo. CERES specializes in how much energy is entering and leaving the Earth. Most of the energy entering s in the form of solar radiation, while energy leaving the system could take a variety of forms, including some of that solar radiation bouncing off of white clouds.

Argo, on the other hand, estimates the rate of temperature increase for the oceans. 90% of the energy that is absorbed by the Earth system is absorbed into the oceans, so any significant energy imbalance would be seen as a heating up of the oceans.

Video description of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation.Credit - Met Office YouTube Channel

The second cause was an increase in both greenhouse gases caused by human emissions and water vapor, which can prevent specific types of radiation from escaping, increasing the overall energy amount of the system.  So our own emissions are making it harder for heat to escape Earth.

Consequences of such a change in the energy imbalance are slightly less clear, as is the case with much climate science.  There is a chance that this heat trapping effect could speed the melting of the polar ice caps, thereby speeding up the rise in sea levels that many scientists fear will occur over the next 100 years.  Alternatively, higher ocean temperatures could mean more acidic oceans, which has its own impact on the ecosystems that are reliant on ocean chemistry.

Over the course of a year the orientation of the axis remains fixed in space, producing changes in the distribution of solar radiation. These changes in the pattern of radiation reaching earth’s surface cause the succession of the seasons. Credit: NOAA/Thomas G. Andrews

No matter the consequences, this research is another data point in the argument that climate change is real and that humans are causing it.  It is also something we could potentially reverse in our efforts to fight climate change globally.  So it is worth keeping an eye on the overall energy imbalance for the foreseeable future.

Learn More:AGU / NASA / NOAA - EARTH’S ENERGY IMBALANCE HAS DOUBLED SINCE 2005NASA - Joint NASA, NOAA Study Finds Earth's Energy Imbalance Has DoubledThe Hill - NASA study finds dangerous 'energy imbalance' on EarthUT - Why Universe Today Writes on Climate Change

Lead Image - Earth as seen from the ISSCredit - NASA