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https://phys.org/news/2023-05-earth-energy.html
A recent report from the World Meteorological Organization about the state of the climate indicates that the global mean temperature in 2022 was 1.15°C above the 1850-1900 (preindustrial reference period) average. Moreover, the last eight years have been the warmest since the beginning of instrumental temperature records 173 years ago.
In other words, the climate system has been out of balance for several decades.
[...] Earth's energy imbalance -- Solar radiation is virtually Earth's only energy source, the other energy sources—such as Earth's interior heat and tidal energy—being negligible. The Earth reflects around 30 percent of the solar radiation and emits radiation towards space.
The greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane) let solar radiation pass, but not the radiation emitted by the Earth, thus trapping this energy. Earth's near-surface temperature, which is 15°C, would be around -19°C without the greenhouse effect.
If the difference between the incoming energy—solar radiation—and outgoing energy—the sum of the solar radiation reflected by the Earth and the radiation emitted by the Earth—is not equal to zero, as is the case currently, we refer to this as Earth Energy Imbalance (EEI).
It is human activity, through the emission of greenhouse gases (generating an additional greenhouse effect), that has caused the Earth energy imbalance.
But where does the excess energy accumulate? It accumulates under the form of heat in the different components of the climate system (atmosphere, land, hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere). And this is what explains why the Earth is warming, or more globally, climate change.
Such an inventory corresponding to the period 1960-2020 has been provided by a recently published study. This study shows that the Earth system has been accumulating heat since 1971. Moreover, the rate of heat accumulation corresponding to the period 2006-2020 is higher than that corresponding to 1971-2020. Most of the excess heat is stored in the ocean (89 percent), mainly in the upper ocean (0-700 metres in depth). The rest of the excess heat is stored in the land (six percent) and the atmosphere (one percent), and has led to the melting of the components of the cryosphere—glaciers, ice sheets and sea ice (four percent).
In addition to storing excess heat, the ocean is also an important CO₂ sink, thus playing an essential role in the regulation of the climate. However, the ocean will become less efficient at capturing CO₂ with the increase in the cumulative emissions of this gas. Why? Because of the positive feedback between the ocean warming and the decrease in the capacity of the oceans to absorb CO₂.
Unfortunately, the current state of the ocean is concerning. In 2022, the ocean heat content reached a record high, and 58 percent of the ocean surface experienced at least one marine heatwave. Since mid-March this year, the mean ocean surface temperature is the highest ever observed since the beginning of the satellite era. Among other negative impacts on the marine ecosystems, marine heatwaves cause coral bleaching events.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday June 02 2023, @10:52PM (4 children)
Which of the many me generations is supposed to be the me generation?
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday June 03 2023, @01:41AM (3 children)
Lately, boomers take the cake, though their children didn't fall too far from the tree... After that the kids got a raw enough deal in young adulthood that they really do think differently, on average.
Boomers parents were the last previous selfless generation.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday June 03 2023, @05:00AM (2 children)
A "selfless" generation responsible for Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. For those keeping score, those two programs are responsible for more than half [soylentnews.org] of the US's total liabilities. The me generation of the Boomer parents created monsters that threaten our future now. Of course, nobody else fixed those problems either. There's a lot of me generations out there.
My take on the whole thing is that there isn't some magic quantity that separates boomers from any other generation, and makes them allegedly more selfish. It's just mildly different life experiences. I'd look at the systems not the people. That's what creates the conflicts of interest and opportunities for generational greed.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday June 03 2023, @10:48AM (1 child)
>A "selfless" generation responsible for Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. For those keeping score, those two programs are responsible for more than half [soylentnews.org] of the US's total liabilities.
What is your major mental malfunction? That's the generation that gave back to their children0, set up the boomers to be able to give most of their children University educations, nearly all of their children good jobs, the generation that put the US on top of the world.
>created monsters that threaten our future now.
Oh, nevermind, you watch Fox News, don't you? Probably listen to conservative talk radio when you're in the car, too.
>I'd look at the systems not the people.
If you want to look at it that way, the systems do make the people, the circle goes round and round, the pendulum swings, etc.
If you rate "better" by who has the richest 0.5% of their population, then we keep very different score cards.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1, Disagree) by khallow on Saturday June 03 2023, @12:14PM
In other words, that's the generation that you allege created the me generation and of course, we still have that they're responsible for creating the greatest financial liabilities of the present US today. There is no mental malfunction on my side. Yours is a different matter. I'm pointing out the obvious that there is no generation that is notably selfless or selfish. They just were born at different times.
I don't do either. I haven't watched TV news in two decades and never listened to conservative talk radio. And if that were somehow true that the only people in the US interested in dealing with the greatest threats to the US's future listened to these things, then it would merely indicate that you probably should as well.
Or we could do the headless chicken thing you have going on. I'm sure that would be productive.
Everyone with a population over 200 has the richest 0.5% of their population. You're not even wrong.