The Earth energy imbalance – new advances and remaining challenges

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina von Schuckmann
Keyword(s):  
Global Climate ◽  
Research Effort ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Multidisciplinary Research ◽  
Energy Imbalance ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Multiple Measurements ◽  
Composition Changes ◽  
Past Half

<p>Human-induced atmospheric composition changes cause a radiative imbalance at the top of the atmosphere which is driving global warming. This simple number, the Earth energy imbalance (EEI), is the most fundamental metric that the scientific community and public must be aware of as the measure of how well the world is doing in the task of bringing climate change under control. Combining multiple measurements and approaches in an optimal way holds considerable promise for estimating EEI and continued quantification and reduced uncertainties can be best achieved through the maintenance of the current global climate observing system, its extension into areas of gaps in the sampling, advance on instrumental limitations, and the establishment of an international framework for concerted multidisciplinary research effort. This talk will provide an overview on the different approaches and their challenges for estimating the EEI. A particular emphasis will be drawn on the heat gain of the Earth system over the past half of a century – and particularly how much and where the heat is distributed – which is fundamental to understanding how this affects warming ocean, atmosphere and land; rising surface temperature; sea level; and loss of grounded and floating ice, which are critical concerns for society.</p><p> </p>

scholarly journals Heat stored in the Earth system: Where does the energy go? The GCOS Earth heat inventory team

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina von Schuckmann ◽  
Lijing Cheng ◽  
Matthew D. Palmer ◽  
Caterina Tassone ◽  
Valentin Aich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Climate ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Heat Gain ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
International Assessment ◽  
Composition Changes

Abstract. Human-induced atmospheric composition changes cause a radiative imbalance at the top-of-atmosphere which is driving global warming. This Earth Energy Imbalance (EEI) is a fundamental metric of climate change. Understanding the heat gain of the Earth system from this accumulated heat – and particularly how much and where the heat is distributed in the Earth system – is fundamental to understanding how this affects warming oceans, atmosphere and land, rising temperatures and sea level, and loss of grounded and floating ice, which are fundamental concerns for society. This study is a Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) concerted international effort to update the Earth heat inventory, and presents an updated international assessment of ocean warming estimates, and new and updated estimates of heat gain in the atmosphere, cryosphere and land over the period 1960–2018. The study obtains a consistent long-term Earth system heat gain over the past 58 years, with a total heat gain of 393 ± 40 ZJ, which is equivalent to a heating rate of 0.42 ± 0.04 W m−2. The majority of the heat gain (89 %) takes place in the global ocean (0–700 m: 53 %; 700–2000 m: 28 %; > 2000 m: 8 %), while it amounts to 6 % for the land heat gain, to 4 % available for the melting of grounded and floating ice, and to 1 % for atmospheric warming. These new estimates indicate a larger contribution of land and ice heat gain (10 % in total) compared to previous estimates (7 %). There is a regime shift of the Earth heat inventory over the past 2 decades, which appears to be predominantly driven by heat sequestration into the deeper layers of the global ocean, and a doubling of heat gain in the atmosphere. However, a major challenge is to reduce uncertainties in the Earth heat inventory, which can be best achieved through the maintenance of the current global climate observing system, its extension into areas of gaps in the sampling, as well as to establish an international framework for concerted multi-disciplinary research of the Earth heat inventory. Earth heat inventory is published at DKRZ (https://www.dkrz.de/) under the doi: https://doi.org/10.26050/WDCC/GCOS_EHI_EXP (von Schuckmann et al., 2020).

The Proterozoic Record of Eukaryotes

Paleobiology ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 610-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phoebe A. Cohen ◽  
Francis A. Macdonald
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Snowball Earth ◽  
Geographic Variability ◽  
The Past ◽  
Past Half Century ◽  
Age Constraints ◽  
Composition Changes ◽  
Current Record ◽  
Past Half ◽  
Early Neoproterozoic

AbstractProterozoic strata host evidence of global “Snowball Earth” glaciations, large perturbations to the carbon cycle, proposed changes in the redox state of oceans, the diversification of microscopic eukaryotes, and the rise of metazoans. Over the past half century, the number of fossils described from Proterozoic rocks has increased exponentially. These discoveries have occurred alongside an increased understanding of the Proterozoic Earth system and the geological context of fossil occurrences, including improved age constraints. However, the evaluation of relationships between Proterozoic environmental change and fossil diversity has been hampered by several factors, particularly lithological and taphonomic biases. Here we compile and analyze the current record of eukaryotic fossils in Proterozoic strata to assess the effect of biases and better constrain diversity through time. Our results show that mean within assemblage diversity increases through the Proterozoic Eon due to an increase in high diversity assemblages, and that this trend is robust to various external factors including lithology and paleogeographic location. In addition, assemblage composition changes dramatically through time. Most notably, robust recalcitrant taxa appear in the early Neoproterozoic Era, only to disappear by the beginning of the Ediacaran Period. Within assemblage diversity is significantly lower in the Cryogenian Period than in the preceding and following intervals, but the short duration of the nonglacial interlude and unusual depositional conditions may present additional biases. In general, large scale patterns of diversity are robust while smaller scale patterns are difficult to discern through the lens of lithological, taphonomic, and geographic variability.

scholarly journals The Frequency and Predicted Consequences of Cosmic Impacts in the Last 65 Million Years

2004 ◽  
Vol 213 ◽  
pp. 289-294
Author(s):  
Michael Paine ◽  
Benny Peiser
Keyword(s):  
Financial Support ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Catastrophic Event ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Global Events ◽  
Impact Events

Sixty five million years ago a huge asteroid collided with the Earth and ended the long reign of the dinosaurs. In the aftermath of this catastrophic event, the mammals arose and eventually mankind came to dominate the surface of the planet. The Earth, however, has not been free from severe impacts since the time of the dinosaur killer. We examine the likely frequency of major impact events over the past 65 million years, the evidence for these impacts and the predicted consequences of various types of impacts. It is evident that the mammals had to survive frequent severe disruptions to the global climate, and it is likely that over the past 5 million years hominids were faced with several catastrophic global events. Smaller but strategically located impact events could bring down our civilisation if they occurred today. Mankind has recently developed the expertise to predict and mitigate future impacts, but political and financial support are lacking.

scholarly journals Proxy evidence for state-dependence of climate sensitivity in the Eocene greenhouse

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Anagnostou ◽  
E. H. John ◽  
T. L. Babila ◽  
P. F. Sexton ◽  
A. Ridgwell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Sensitivity ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
State Dependence ◽  
The State ◽  
State Dependency ◽  
The Past ◽  
Global Mean Temperature ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Modelling Studies ◽  
Global Mean

Abstract Despite recent advances, the link between the evolution of atmospheric CO2 and climate during the Eocene greenhouse remains uncertain. In particular, modelling studies suggest that in order to achieve the global warmth that characterised the early Eocene, warmer climates must be more sensitive to CO2 forcing than colder climates. Here, we test this assertion in the geological record by combining a new high-resolution boron isotope-based CO2 record with novel estimates of Global Mean Temperature. We find that Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity (ECS) was indeed higher during the warmest intervals of the Eocene, agreeing well with recent model simulations, and declined through the Eocene as global climate cooled. These observations indicate that the canonical IPCC range of ECS (1.5 to 4.5 °C per doubling) is unlikely to be appropriate for high-CO2 warm climates of the past, and the state dependency of ECS may play an increasingly important role in determining the state of future climate as the Earth continues to warm.

Why Simulate?

1991 ◽  
Author(s):  
James C. G. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Global Change ◽  
Trace Element Composition ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Earth System Science ◽  
System Science ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Future ◽  
Systems Simulation

Our world is a product of complex interactions among atmosphere, ocean, rocks, and life that Earth system science seeks to understand. Earth system science deals with such properties of the environment as composition and climate and populations and the ways in which they affect one another. It also concerns how these interactions caused environmental properties to change in the past and how they may change in the future. The Earth system can be studied quantitatively because its properties can be represented by numbers. At present, however, most of the numbers in Earth system science are observational rather than theoretical, and so our description of the Earth system's objective properties is much more complete than our quantitative understanding of how the system works. Quantitative theoretical understanding grows out of a simulation of the system or parts of the system and numerical experimentation with simulated systems. Simulation experiments can answer questions like What is the effect of this feature? or What would happen in that situation? Simulation also gives meaning to observations by showing how they may be related. As an illustration, consider that area of Earth system science known as global change. There is now an unambiguous observational record of global change in many important areas of the environment. For elements of climate and atmospheric composition this record is based on direct measurement over periods of a decade to a century. For other environmental variables, particularly those related to the composition of the ocean, the record of change consists of measurements of isotopic or trace-element composition of sediments deposited over millions of years. This evidence of global change is profoundly affecting our view of what the future holds in store for us and what options exist. It should also influence our understanding of how the interaction of biota and environment has changed the course of Earth history. But despite the importance of global change to our prospects for the future and our understanding of the past, the mechanisms of change are little understood. There are many speculative suggestions about the causes of change but few quantitative and convincing tests of these suggestions.

scholarly journals Adverse Influence of Radio Frequency Background on Trembling Aspen Seedlings: Preliminary Observations

2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Haggerty
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Radio Frequency ◽  
Underlying Factor ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Past Half Century ◽  
Adverse Influence ◽  
Anthocyanin Production ◽  
Past Half

Numerous incidents of aspen decline have been recorded in North America over the past half century, and incidents of very rapid mortality of aspen clones have been observed in Colorado since 2004. The radio frequency (RF) environment of the earth has undergone major changes in the past two centuries due to the development and use of electricity in power and communications applications, and the anthropogenic RF background continues to increase in intensity and complexity. This study suggests that the RF background may have strong adverse effects on growth rate and fall anthocyanin production in aspen, and may be an underlying factor in aspen decline.

Counter-Earths – Planetary models beyond operational images

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Heinicker ◽  
Lukáš Likavčan
Keyword(s):  
Visual Culture ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Self Presentation ◽  
Planetary Scale ◽  
The Past ◽  
Sensing Systems ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Data Visualizations ◽  
Algorithmic Process

<p>This contributions deals with an extensive apparatus of sensing and modelling the Earth, producing numerous fragmented Counter-Earths - the digital models and data visualizations of the planetary ecosystem. We center our analysis around this increasingly non-human visual culture, in order to seek possible theoretical framings of global climate sensing and modelling. After a historical and theoretical introduction to emergence and composition of this infrastructure - drawing from the works of Jennifer Gabrys and Paul N. Edwards -, we elaborate a framework in which we can see machine production of images of the planet as continuous algorithmic process of transformation of planetary circumstances. Contesting interpretation of the imagery that facilitates this process as <em>representations</em> of the planet, we categorize climate models and satellite visual outputs as <em>operational images</em>, following insights by Vilem Flusser and Harun Farocki. While fully acknowledging its historical and theoretical importance, this terminology is in this contribution further assessed as still too human-centric, and for this reason, we proceed with Dietmar Offenhuber’s concept of <em>autographic visualization</em> that endows non-human assemblages with capacity of self-presentation and self-diagrammatization. Consequently, we conclude with several examples of autographic visualization of climate change on a planetary scale, discovering Earth’s tendency to be externalized, geological memory of modernity, that can be read through machine sensing systems uncovering these hidden traces of the past.</p>

scholarly journals Fostering multidisciplinary research on interactions between chemistry, biology, and physics within the coupled cryosphere-atmosphere system

Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennie L. Thomas ◽  
Jochen Stutz ◽  
Markus M. Frey ◽  
Thorsten Bartels-Rausch ◽  
Katye Altieri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Chemistry ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Multidisciplinary Research ◽  
Frozen Ground ◽  
Alpine Regions ◽  
Atmosphere System ◽  
Cryospheric Change ◽  
New Research ◽  
Atmospheric Inputs

The cryosphere, which comprises a large portion of Earth’s surface, is rapidly changing as a consequence of global climate change. Ice, snow, and frozen ground in the polar and alpine regions of the planet are known to directly impact atmospheric composition, which for example is observed in the large influence of ice and snow on polar boundary layer chemistry. Atmospheric inputs to the cryosphere, including aerosols, nutrients, and contaminants, are also changing in the anthropocene thus driving cryosphere-atmosphere feedbacks whose understanding is crucial for understanding future climate. Here, we present the Cryosphere and ATmospheric Chemistry initiative (CATCH) which is focused on developing new multidisciplinary research approaches studying interactions of chemistry, biology, and physics within the coupled cryosphere – atmosphere system and their sensitivity to environmental change. We identify four key science areas: (1) micro-scale processes in snow and ice, (2) the coupled cryosphere-atmosphere system, (3) cryospheric change and feedbacks, and (4) improved decisions and stakeholder engagement. To pursue these goals CATCH will foster an international, multidisciplinary research community, shed light on new research needs, support the acquisition of new knowledge, train the next generation of leading scientists, and establish interactions between the science community and society.

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