A new scientific study found that the planet has been storing in its atmosphere since 2005 large amounts of heat in an unprecedented and alarming way, which led to the doubling of the Earth's energy imbalance in just 14 years between 2005 and 2019.

The study indicated that the heat emitted by the planet is caused by the actions of man and what is received from the sun's rays;

During the past years, they have caused a disturbance in the natural thermal balance in the atmosphere of our planet, and this exacerbates the severity of climate changes.

The study - published on June 15 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters - was prepared in cooperation between NASA and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

It stated that during 14 years - that is, since 2005 - careful monitoring of the amount of heat energy stored in the atmosphere of our planet, but the results obtained were disappointing.

Annual energy flow to the top of the atmosphere (orange) and energy absorption by the Earth's climate system (turquoise) (NASA)

The burden is borne by the oceans

The oceans play an essential role in sustaining life on our planet;

They absorb about 30% of the carbon dioxide on their surface, and produce about 50% of the oxygen we need.

But because of this increase in the amounts of thermal energy present in the Earth's atmosphere;

The performance of the oceans in absorbing excess heat has increased to an alarming degree;

Because the oceans are absorbing large quantities beyond their capacity, and this will not last long.

In collecting information for this study, the researchers relied on NASA's CERES satellite, which is specialized in measuring the amount of heat coming from or emanating from outside our planet.

The researchers also relied on data provided by the global network of ocean vessels called "ARGO", which played a major role in determining the speed of ocean warming, as it found that large bodies of water absorb about 90% of the excess heat known to our planet.

"The numbers we have are catastrophic, because this imbalance in the thermal energy stored by our planet will exacerbate the climate change crisis," said the researcher supervising the study, Norman Loeb, of NASA, in its press release.

The Pacific Decadal Oscillation played a role in global warming (Shutterstock)

The role of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation

The researchers also found that the Pacific Decadal Oscillation also played a large role in the global warming of the planet over the past years.

And because the Pacific Ocean is one of the largest bodies of water on the planet - covering about 46% of the total area of ​​​​the seas and oceans - any fluctuation in its temperature directly affects the temperature of the planet.

The Pacific Decadal Oscillation is a phenomenon that occurs every 20 or 30 years;

Its temperature changes from cold to hot or vice versa, and scientists recorded a change in 2014 from cold to hot, and this continued until 2020, which contributed to the increase in the temperature of our planet.

The authors of the study also said that this phenomenon caused a decrease in the density of clouds over the Pacific Ocean in a wide range, in return for a significant increase in the process of absorbing the sun's heat.

It seems - through the statements of lead researcher Norman Loeb - that predicting what will happen in the coming decades will be very difficult, because all indications suggest that our planet is heading towards an environmental catastrophe of unimaginable size.