Earth’s atmosphere retains heat twice as fast as 15 years ago

A team of researchers from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the National Office for Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), determined that the planet’s atmosphere retains heat twice as fast as 15 years ago.

This phenomenon is known as energy imbalance, which is the difference between the amount of energy absorbed by the planet and the amount of energy it emits. When this balance is lost, the Earth gains in energy and therefore warms up.

This research suggests that the energy imbalance could be due to thermal anomalies in the seas (warmer and more acidified waters), since the oceans are responsible for absorbing the energy that the planet receives, mainly from the Sun. As a result, the Earth it absorbs more energy than it produces.

Scientists consider two main causes of this energy imbalance: the reduction of sea ice and clouds, responsible for reflecting light into space. As there are fewer clouds, solar radiation reaches the earth’s surface directly.

The other cause is the increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Human beings incorporate 40,000 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) pollution into the atmosphere each year. The data obtained still do not allow us to determine the consequences of this reality, although it is expected that the melting of the polar ice caps could accelerate, as well as the loss of biodiversity throughout the planet.