Global Energy is Out of Balance

 

A new study released by NASA provides further evidence that greenhouse gases are the main driving force behind global warming.

The study looked at the planet's energy imbalance, which calculates the difference between the amount of solar energy absorbed by the surface of the Earth and the amount that's sent back to space as heat. According to the calculations derived from the study, between 2005 and 2010 the Earth absorbed more heat than it gave off, in spite of lower than usual solar activity.

When the imbalance is positive — that is, when the planet absorbs more heat than it gives off — it means that global temperatures are growing warmer.

"The fact that we still see a positive imbalance despite the prolonged solar minimum isn't a surprise given what we've learned about the climate system," explained James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. "But it's worth noting because this provides unequivocal evidence that the sun is not the dominant driver of global warming,"

The data was gathered using a network of floating temperature monitoring devices, which NASA has dubbed Argo. The data gathered from the 3,400 floats was then combined with ground-based and satellite data to form the basis of the study.