The earth is losing its shine (and yes, it is linked to the climate)

You may not know it, but the Earth has a natural glow when you view the sphere from space. This shine is called “albedo”: the reflexivity of the earth. A higher albedo means that the Earth reflects more light and heat back into space. A recent study has shown that the albedo of the earth does not increase, but actually decreases. And that’s not good news.

The scientific research was recently published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Geophysical research letters. The results show that the Earth’s brightness has diminished over the past two decades. According to scientists, the cause of this phenomenon could be linked to climate change.

Earth shine a little less

Recent scientific research shows that the earth “radiates” about half a percent less than at the end of the 20th century. Half a percent less seems like a negligible difference, but it certainly isn’t.

The Earth reflects about 30 percent of all sunlight that falls on it. The decrease in albedo means that the Earth reflects 0.5% less sunlight than a few years ago.

The decrease in albedo is due to Philippe goode, an astronomer from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, was a surprise. Scientists looked at data from the past three years and noticed a half percent difference, while data from the previous 17 years shows virtually no change.

The link with the climate

The amount of sunlight that reaches the earth depends on two things: the brightness of the sun and the reflection of the albedo. However, the option that the albedo is less reflective because the sun periodically shines less brightly has been ruled out by scientists. This means that the weakening of the brilliance is caused by something on earth.

The degree of reflection of albedo is influenced, among other things, by clouds. The team of scientists compared their findings with those of NASA Clouds and the Earth’s radiant energy system (CERES) to study the influence of clouds on albedo. There is less and less low cloud over the eastern Pacific (Pacific), reducing the surface reflecting light and heat. The reduction in low clouds is due to climate change.

Until now, scientists have hoped that a warmer Earth could lead to more clouds, higher albedo and therefore more heat reflective. This result would have helped us restore balance on Earth. Unfortunately, this research shows the opposite: the warming earth has less and less low cloud, which translates into a higher albedo. Thus, less light and heat are reflected back into the room.