Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 5, 2025
06:10
Using Generative Art to Convey Past and Future Climate Transitions
Published on: March 31, 2023
883
Recent global temperature surge intensified by record-low planetary albedo
Helge F Goessling1, Thomas Rackow2, Thomas Jung1,3
1Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|December 5, 2024
Summary
In 2023, global temperatures hit a record high, nearly 1.5 kelvin above preindustrial levels. A surprising drop in planetary albedo, mainly due to reduced low cloud cover, explains the unexpected warming.
Area of Science:
- Climate Science
- Atmospheric Physics
- Global Warming Research
Background:
- 2023 marked a record-breaking year for global mean temperature.
- Observed warming exceeded previous records by approximately 0.17 kelvin.
- Known drivers like anthropogenic warming and El Niño did not fully account for the temperature anomaly.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify the primary drivers of the record 2023 global temperature rise.
- To explain the discrepancy between observed warming and estimates based on known factors.
- To investigate the role of planetary albedo and cloud cover in recent warming trends.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of satellite and reanalysis data.
- Quantification of planetary albedo changes.
- Investigation of low-cloud cover trends in key regions.
Main Results:
- A record-low planetary albedo was identified as the main factor explaining the temperature gap.
- Reduced low-cloud cover in the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes and tropics was the primary cause of the albedo decline.
- This reduction is consistent with a continuing multiannual trend.
Conclusions:
- Decreased planetary albedo, driven by reduced low-cloud cover, is crucial for understanding 2023's record warming.
- Further research is needed to determine the causes of the low-cloud trend (internal variability, aerosols, or feedback).
- Understanding these factors is vital for accurate future climate change projections.
Related Concept Videos
01:50Global Climate Change
24.2K
Throughout its ~4.5 billion year history, the Earth has experienced periods of warming and cooling. However, the current drastic increase in global temperatures is well outside of the Earth’s cyclic norms, and evidence for human-caused global climate change is compelling. Paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate conditions, provides ample evidence for human-caused global climate change by comparing recent conditions with those in the past.
24.2K
01:16What is Climate?
18.4K
Climate refers to the prevailing weather conditions in a specific area over an extended period. As the saying goes, “Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get.” Climate is influenced by geographic factors, such as latitude, terrain, and proximity to bodies of water.
18.4K
01:17Radiation: Applications
1.1K
The average temperature of Earth is the subject of much current discussion. Earth is in radiative contact with both the Sun and dark space; it receives almost all its energy from the radiation of the Sun and reflects some of it into outer space. Dark space is very cold, about 3 K, so Earth radiates energy into it. For instance, heat transfer occurs from soil and grasses, the rate of which can be so rapid that frost can occur on clear summer evenings, even in warm latitudes.
The average...
The average...
1.1K
01:50Threats to Biodiversity
22.1K
There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species that adapted to the new conditions. In the current geological epoch, the Holocene, there is a sixth extinction event in progress. This mass extinction has been attributed to human activities and is thus provisionally called the Anthropocene. In 2019 the human population reached 7.7 billion people and is projected to comprise 10 billion by...
22.1K
01:07What is Weather?
18.2K
Overview
18.2K
01:24Acceleration due to Gravity on Other Planets
4.2K
The gravitational acceleration of an object near the Earth's surface is called the acceleration due to gravity. It can be measured by conducting simple experiments on Earth. However, such an experiment is impossible to conduct on the surface of other planets.
Astronomical observations are thus used to measure the acceleration due to gravity on other planets. This can be determined by observing the effect of a planet's gravity on objects close to it. The crucial factor that helps in this...
Astronomical observations are thus used to measure the acceleration due to gravity on other planets. This can be determined by observing the effect of a planet's gravity on objects close to it. The crucial factor that helps in this...
4.2K