The amount of heat absorbed by the Earth has doubled in fifteen years.
This is what confirms a study carried out by NASA and the United States Agency for Ocean and Atmospheric Observation (NOAA) and published this Tuesday in the scientific journal
Geophysical Research Letters
.
Never had the difference between the energy coming from the Sun received by our planet and that rejected had been so important.
The phenomenon is worrying: its consequences are a further rise in average temperatures and an aggravation of the melting of ice and the rise in sea level.
Earth's energy imbalance doubled from 2005 to 2019 alarmingly
About 90% of the excess energy from an energy imbalance ends up in the ocean, further amplifying the warming of the earth.
#ClimateCrisis https://t.co/YSanLkfxJN
- Marcel clément (@imarclement) June 19, 2021
A vicious circle underway on Earth
In fact, it is in the latter that 90% of the heat resulting from the imbalance is ultimately found, resulting in acidification which harms marine biodiversity.
Norman Loeb, scientist at NASA and lead author of the study, also evokes future "changes in atmospheric flows, for example extreme phenomena such as waves of drought", relays
CNN
.
To explain the phenomenon, the researcher points to human activity but also “fluctuations within the climate system” in the form of a vicious circle.
The rise in temperatures causes an increase in the quantity of water vapor present in the atmosphere.
The latter in turn promotes the increase in heat.
The study focuses on data provided by satellites between 2005 and 2019.
Norman Loeb called the chosen period a "snapshot" and calls for new scientific work allowing a longer term vision.
The authors of the study deem their results "startling" and believe that the amount of heat that accumulates on Earth must decrease or else the climate situation will deteriorate further.
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