Our planet is darkening as the light refracted from Earth’s atmosphere towards the surface of the Moon – and this could be a major problem.
Washington: According to a new study, warm ocean waters have reduced our planet’s brightness, leading to a decrease in the amount of light reflected per square metre (0.5 watts) by the planet over the past 20 years.
If the earth darkens, it also absorbs more solar energy than before, which could cause dire effects in the future.
The researchers found the Earth reflects around half a watt less light per square meter today than it did 20 years ago, and the majority of the drop occurred over the last three years of the Earth’s moon orbit data.
This corresponds to a reduction in reflection by 0.5% or the proportion of light reflected off Earth over this period.
Earth reflects around 30 per cent of sunlight coming down on it.
“The albedo drop was such a surprise to us when we analyzed the last three years of data after 17 years of nearly flat albedo,”Philip Goode
The albedo drop came as such a surprise to us when analyzing data for the past three years after 17 years of almost flat albedo, said Philip Goode, a researcher at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Principal Author of the new study, in a news release.
