(ORDO NEWS) — Scientists have conducted a study that has shown that our planet is no longer as bright as it was literally a couple of decades ago. They believe that rapid climate change may be the reason.
It is reported by Forbes.
When the Sun shines on the Earth, it reflects about a third of this light back into outer space. But due to the fact that the oceans have become much warmer, the reflectivity of the planet has decreased markedly. It is also called albedo. Philip Goode noted that the decrease in albedo is a complete surprise to specialists, because the results are markedly different from those obtained 17 years ago.
Scientists have analyzed the data received from satellites and evaluated the terrestrial radiance. They noticed that the albedo dropped by about 0.5%. It is worth noting that most of the data was received in just three years, from 2015 to 2017 inclusive. According to experts, the main reason for what is happening is that over the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean, the amount of reflecting clouds has significantly decreased due to warming of the water. This is a wake-up call.
For a long time, many experts believed that global warming will lead to the fact that the reflectivity of the planet will increase and this will have a positive effect on the situation on Earth. But the latest research shows the exact opposite effect.
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