Content-Length: 329341 | pFad | https://doi.org/10.1038/NGEO1375

ma=86400 Observed changes in top-of-the-atmosphere radiation and upper-ocean heating consistent within uncertainty | Nature Geoscience
Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Observed changes in top-of-the-atmosphere radiation and upper-ocean heating consistent within uncertainty

Nature Geoscience volume 5, pages 110–113 (2012)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Global climate change results from a small yet persistent imbalance between the amount of sunlight absorbed by Earth and the thermal radiation emitted back to space1. An apparent inconsistency has been diagnosed between interannual variations in the net radiation imbalance inferred from satellite measurements and upper-ocean heating rate from in situ measurements, and this inconsistency has been interpreted as ‘missing energy’ in the system2. Here we present a revised analysis of net radiation at the top of the atmosphere from satellite data, and we estimate ocean heat content, based on three independent sources. We find that the difference between the heat balance at the top of the atmosphere and upper-ocean heat content change is not statistically significant when accounting for observational uncertainties in ocean measurements3, given transitions in instrumentation and sampling. Furthermore, variability in Earth’s energy imbalance relating to El Niño-Southern Oscillation is found to be consistent within observational uncertainties among the satellite measurements, a reanalysis model simulation and one of the ocean heat content records. We combine satellite data with ocean measurements to depths of 1,800 m, and show that between January 2001 and December 2010, Earth has been steadily accumulating energy at a rate of 0.50±0.43 Wm−2 (uncertainties at the 90% confidence level). We conclude that energy storage is continuing to increase in the sub-surface ocean.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: 0–700 m upper-ocean warming rates.
Figure 2: Variations in TOA radiation and ENSO during the past decade.
Figure 3: Comparison of net TOA flux and upper-ocean heating rates.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Hansen, J. et al. Earth’s energy imbalance: Confirmation and implications. Science 308, 1431–1435 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Trenberth, K. E. & Fasullo, J. T. Tracking earth’s energy. Science 328, 316–317 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Lyman, J. M. et al. Robust warming of the global upper ocean. Nature 465, 334–337 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Bindoff, N. L. et al. in IPCC Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis (eds Solomon, S. et al.) (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Wong, T. et al. Reexamination of the observed decadal variability of the Earth radiation budget using altitude-corrected ERBE/ERBS nonscanner WFOV data. J. Clim. 19, 4028–4040 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Minnis, P. et al. Radiative climate forcing by the Mount Pinatubo eruption. Science 259, 1411–1415 (1993).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Soden, B. J. et al. Quantifying climate feedbacks using radiative kernels. J. Clim. 21, 3504–3520 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Trenberth, K. E. & Fasullo, J. T. Tracking Earth’s energy: From El Niño to global warming. Surv. Geophys. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10712-011-9150-2 (2011).

  9. Katsman, C. A. & van Oldenborgh, G. J. Tracing the upper ocean’s “missing heat”. Geophys. Res. Lett. 38, L14610 (2011).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Meehl, G. A., Arbalster, J. M., Fasullo, J. T., Hu, A. & Trenberth, K. E. Model-based evidence of deep-ocean heat uptake during surface-temperature hiatus periods. Nature Climate Change 1229, 360–364 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Hansen, J., Sato, M., Kharecha, P. & von Schuckmann, K. Earth’s energy imbalance and implications. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 11, 13421–13449 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Boyer, T. P. et al. in NOAA Atlas NESDIS 66 (ed. Levitus, S.) (U.S. Gov. Printing Office, 2009) DVDs.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Roemmich, D. et al. Argo: The challenge of continuing 10 years of progress. Oceanography 22, 46–55 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Johnson, G. C. et al. Ocean heat content. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 92, S81–S84 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. von Schuckmann, K., Gaillard, F. & Le Traon, P.-Y. Global hydrographic variability patterns during 2003–2008. J. Geophys. Res. 114, C09007 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Wielicki, B. et al. Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES): An earth observing system experiment. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 77, 853–868 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Kopp, G., Lawrence, G. & Rottman, G. The Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM): Science results. Sol. Phys. 230, 129–139 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Loeb, N. G. et al. Multi-instrument comparison of top-of-atmosphere reflected solar radiation. J. Clim. 20, 575–591 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Loeb, N. G. et al. Toward optimal closure of the earth’s top-of-atmosphere radiation budget. J. Clim. 22, 748–766 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Loeb, N. G. et al. Advances in understanding top-of-atmosphere radiation variability from satellite observations. Surv. Geophys. (in the press, 2011).

  21. Lyman, J. M. Estimating Global Energy Flow from the Global Upper Ocean. Surv. Geophys. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10712-011-9167-6 (2011).

  22. Purkey, S. G. & Johnson, G. C. Warming of global abyssal and deep southern ocean waters between the 1990s and 2000s: Contributions to global heat and sea level rise budgets. J. Clim. 23, 6336–6351 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Palmer, M. D., McNeall, D. J. & Dunstone, N. J. Importance of the deep ocean for estimating decadal changes in Earth’s radiation balance. Geophys. Res. Lett. 38, L13707 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Dee, D. P., Uppala, S. M., Simmons, A. J. & Berrisford, P. et al. The ERA-Interim reanalysis: Configuration and performance of the data assimilation system. Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc. 137, 553–597 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Meehl, G. A. et al. THE WCRP CMIP3 multimodel dataset: A new era in climate change research. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 88, 1383–1394 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Lyman, J. M. & Johnson, G. C. Estimating annual global upper-ocean heat content anomalies despite irregular in situ ocean sampling. J. Clim. 21, 5629–5641 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Trenberth, K. E. An imperative for climate change planning: Tracking Earth’s global energy. Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustainability 1, 19–27 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Johnson, D. R. et al. in NODC Internal Report 20 (ed. Levitus, S.) (NOAA Printing Office, Available at http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/WOD09/pr_wod09.html (2009).

  29. Levitus, S. et al. Global ocean heat content 1955–2008 in light of recently revealed instrumentation problems. Geophys. Res. Lett. 36, L07608 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  30. Palmer, M. D., Haines, K., Tett, S. F. B. & Ansell, T. J. Isolating the signal of ocean global warming. Geophys. Res. Lett. 34, L23610 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the CERES science, algorithm, and data management teams and the NASA Science Mission Directorate for supporting this research. J.M.L. and G.C.J. were funded by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Program Office and NOAA Research. We thank S. Good at the UK Met Office for providing OHCA data from the Hadley Centre.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. NASA Langley Research Center, 21 Langley Boulevard, Hampton, Virginia 23681, USA

    Norman G. Loeb, David R. Doelling & Takmeng Wong

  2. Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA

    John M. Lyman

  3. NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, Washington 98115, USA

    John M. Lyman & Gregory C. Johnson

  4. Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Earley Gate, Reading, RG6 6BB, PO Box 243, UK

    Richard P. Allan

  5. Division of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, Florida 33149, USA

    Brian J. Soden

  6. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, California 91109, USA

    Graeme L. Stephens

Authors
  1. Norman G. Loeb
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. John M. Lyman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gregory C. Johnson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Richard P. Allan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. David R. Doelling
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Takmeng Wong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Brian J. Soden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Graeme L. Stephens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

N.G.L. led the writing and analysis, with writing and analysis contributions from J.M.L., R.P.A., T.W. and B.J.S. and writing contributions from G.C.J.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Norman G. Loeb.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (PDF 736 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Loeb, N., Lyman, J., Johnson, G. et al. Observed changes in top-of-the-atmosphere radiation and upper-ocean heating consistent within uncertainty. Nature Geosci 5, 110–113 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1375

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1375

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing








ApplySandwichStrip

pFad - (p)hone/(F)rame/(a)nonymizer/(d)eclutterfier!      Saves Data!


--- a PPN by Garber Painting Akron. With Image Size Reduction included!

Fetched URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/NGEO1375

Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy