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Improving estimates of Earth's energy imbalance

Nature Climate Change volume 6, pages 639–640 (2016)Cite this article

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Earth is gaining energy owing to increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases and the large thermal inertia of the oceans1. This gain is difficult to measure directly because it is the small difference between two much larger components of Earth's energy budget — the amount of incoming solar radiation absorbed and the total thermal infrared radiation emitted to space. With over 90% of Earth's energy imbalance (EEI) being stored in the ocean, the most accurate way to determine it is to measure increases in ocean temperatures (along with increases in land temperatures, decreases in ice mass, and increases in atmospheric temperature and moisture)1. Although the observed net uptake of ocean heat energy is robust over decades, measurement biases and changes in sampling over time have made assessing year-to-year changes difficult2.

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Figure 1: Comparison of year-to-year net top-of-the-atmosphere annual energy flux from the CERES Energy Balanced and Filled (EBAF) Ed2.8 product with an in situ observational estimate of uptake of energy by Earth's climate system.

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Acknowledgements

Argo data are collected and made freely available by the International Argo Programme and the national programs that contribute to it. We also thank the CERES science, algorithm and data management team. G.C.J. and J.M.L. are supported by the Climate Observation Division, Climate Program Office, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), US Department of Commerce and NOAA Research. N.G.L. is supported by the NASA Science Mission Directorate. PMEL Contribution 4461.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, 98115, Washington, USA

    Gregory C. Johnson & John M. Lyman

  2. Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, 96822, Hawaii, USA

    John M. Lyman

  3. NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, 23681, Virginia, USA

    Norman G. Loeb

Authors
  1. Gregory C. Johnson
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  2. John M. Lyman
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  3. Norman G. Loeb
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Contributions

All authors contributed equally to the formulation and revisions of this study. G.C.J. created the figure and drafted the text. J.M.L. calculated the 0–1,800 m ocean heat content anomaly estimates. N.G.L. provided the CERES top-of-the-atmosphere energy flux estimates.

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Correspondence to Gregory C. Johnson.

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Johnson, G., Lyman, J. & Loeb, N. Improving estimates of Earth's energy imbalance. Nature Clim Change 6, 639–640 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3043

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