Northern Hemisphere absorbing more sunlight than Southern, and clouds can no longer keep the balance
Years ago, scientists noted something odd: Earth’s Northern and Southern Hemispheres reflect nearly the same amount of sunlight back into space. The reason why this symmetry is odd is because the Northern Hemisphere has more land, cities, pollution, and industrial aerosols. All those things should lead to a higher albedo — more sunlight reflected than absorbed. The Southern Hemisphere is mostly ocean, which is darker and absorbs more sunlight.
New satellite data, however, suggest that symmetry is breaking.
In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Norman Loeb, a climate scientist at NASA’s Langley Research Center, and colleagues analyzed 24 years of observations from NASA’s Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) mission.
They found that the Northern Hemisphere is darkening faster than the Southern Hemisphere. In other words, it’s absorbing more sunlight. That shift may alter weather patterns, rainfall, and the planet’s overall climate in the decades ahead. [Continue reading…]