Earth\textquoterights Energy Imbalance: Confirmation and Implications

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Abstract
Our climate model, driven mainly by increasing human-made greenhouse gases and aerosols, among other forcings, calculates that Earth is now absorbing 0.85 +/- 0.15 watts per square meter more energy from the Sun than it is emitting to space. This imbalance is confirmed by precise measurements of increasing ocean heat content over the past 10 years. Implications include (i) the expectation of additional global warming of about 0.6\textdegreeC without further change of atmospheric composition; (ii) the confirmation of the climate system\textquoterights lag in responding to forcings, implying the need for anticipatory actions to avoid any specified level of climate change; and (iii) the likelihood of acceleration of ice sheet disintegration and sea level rise.
Year of Publication
2005
Journal
Science
Volume
308
Number of Pages
1431-1435
Date Published
06/2005
URL
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005Sci...308.1431H
DOI
10.1126/science.1110252
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