Earth warming steadily
Nature Geoscience
January 23, 2012
Between 2001 and 2010, the Earth has been accumulating heat continuously, with temperatures rising especially in the sub-surface ocean, reports a study published online this week in Nature Geoscience. The analysis suggests that the heat balance measured at the top of the atmosphere is consistent with observed ocean warming, implying that there is probably no ‘missing energy’ in the system as had been suspected. Norman Loeb and co-authors determined the net radiation balance at the top of the Earth’s atmosphere from satellite data and estimated the heat content of the upper ocean from three independent sources. They conclude that the changes in upper-ocean heat content and in the top-of-the-atmosphere heat balance are in broad agreement, given the considerable uncertainty between the observational systems.
doi: 10.1038/ngeo1375
Research highlights
-
Nov 21
Astrophysics: Very energetic gamma-ray burstsNature
-
Nov 19
Astronomy: The first global geological map of TitanNature Astronomy
-
Nov 13
Environment: Value of national parks’ impact on mental health estimatedNature Communications
-
Nov 12
Ecology: Lost deer-like species ‘rediscovered’Nature Ecology & Evolution
-
Nov 12
Geoscience: Earth’s mantle motion has kept Nile stable for 30 million yearsNature Geoscience
-
Nov 8
Biology: Arctic sea ice loss may facilitate disease spread in marine mammalsScientific Reports
