Earth Is Getting Darker, Literally, and Scientists Are Trying To Find Out Why (404media.co)
- Reference: 0179631242
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/10/02/1659218/earth-is-getting-darker-literally-and-scientists-are-trying-to-find-out-why
- Source link: https://www.404media.co/earth-is-getting-darker-literally-and-scientists-are-trying-to-find-out-why/
> It's not the vibes; Earth is [1]literally getting darker . Scientists have discovered that our planet has been reflecting less light in both hemispheres, with a more pronounced darkening in the Northern hemisphere, according to [2]a study published on Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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> The new trend upends longstanding symmetry in the surface albedo, or reflectivity, of the Northern and Southern hemispheres. In other words, clouds circulate in a way that equalizes hemispheric differences, such as the uneven distribution of land, so that the albedos roughly match -- though nobody knows why. "There are all kinds of things that people have noticed in observations and simulations that tend to suggest that you have this hemispheric symmetry as a kind of fundamental property of the climate system, but nobody's really come up with a theoretical framework or explanation for it," said Norman Loeb, a physical scientist at NASA's Langley Research Center, who led the new study. "It's always been something that we've observed, but we haven't really explained it fully."
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> To study this mystery, Loeb and his colleagues analyzed 24 years of observations captured since 2000 by the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES), a network of instruments placed on several NOAA and NASA satellites. Instead of an explanation for the strange symmetry, the results revealed an emerging asymmetry in hemispheric albedo; though both hemispheres are darkening, the Northern hemisphere shows more pronounced changes which challenges "the hypothesis that hemispheric symmetry in albedo is a fundamental property of Earth," according to the study.
[1] https://www.404media.co/earth-is-getting-darker-literally-and-scientists-are-trying-to-find-out-why/
[2] https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2511595122
Re: (Score:1)
If you don't want the left to be judged by the craziest screaming radicals on the left, then don't judge all of the right by the crazy wack-a-doodles on the right. It's just a straw-man argument. Both the dems and the republicans are massive coalitions of many different groups and make up millions of people. If you're a reasonable liberal you almost certainly have more opinions in common with a reasonable conservative than either of you do with the radical elements of your own parties. Though with that
Re: (Score:2)
So, the crazy wack-a-doodles are in the party made up of happy, healthy people, not the one with all the unhappy people reporting mental illness?
[1]https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/a... [nih.gov]
[2]https://ifstudies.org/blog/why... [ifstudies.org]
[3]https://www.sciencedirect.com/... [sciencedirect.com]
[1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12043138/
[2] https://ifstudies.org/blog/why-are-liberals-less-happy-than-conservatives
[3] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886914004553?via%3Dihub
Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)
I'm just repeating the type of rhetoric that comes from the douchebag currently in the White House. You're pretty much admitting he is a crazy wack-a-doodle and a radical element of his party. What reasonable conservatives? The ones that didn't vote this crazy wack-a-doodle into office? Where are they exactly, and why aren't they doing anything to stop the radical elements in their party: the MAGA movement. Seems to me they just jump on the bandwagon as long as their side is in power.
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The Northern Hemisphere just dimmed a bit more after that.
Re: (Score:1)
Look, I'm left of center, and I'm not even American. But you aren't helping. Did you agree with all of Biden or Obama's policies or everything they said? If you did you'd be very rare indeed. The people on the right have various opinions. Many of the ones who swung the election towards Trump did it because they view one single issue, like affordability or immigration, to be the one thing they're mainly concerned about, and it was more about the democrats having not done enough to address those specific
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The last reasonable conservative was Reagan and he would absolutely get called a leftist woketard today.
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What positions in particular are you thinking of that would get Regan labeled as a leftist now?
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Getting rid of open carrying firearms and offering amnesty for people in the country illegally.
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Regan did not support the amnesty bill. He signed it because of the compromises that were made which would have prevented future illegal immigration, and the promise that it would be the last one ever.
Well, the other side of the deal was never held up.
But, it also goes to show how positions change over time. Trump holds a number of positions to the left of Regan, like on trade, gay marriage, foreign policy... Or, at least positions that were to the left of Regan when he was in office. The GOP and
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> Regan did not support the amnesty bill.
Sure sounds like he did.
"I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and lived here, even though sometime back they may have entered illegally," [1]https://www.npr.org/2010/07/04... [npr.org]
[1] https://www.npr.org/2010/07/04/128303672/a-reagan-legacy-amnesty-for-illegal-immigrants
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> What positions in particular are you thinking of that would get Regan labeled as a leftist now?
President Ronald Reagan signed the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) into law on April 7, 1986. The law requires hospitals to provide emergency medical care to anyone who needs it, regardless of their ability to pay.
Today, such a position would be attacked as "you're providing healthcare for illegals!" Oh, let me rephrase that: Today that is being attacked as "you're providing healthcare for illegals!"
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I think it was criticized that way in '86. But, was that a policy he backed or a bill he signed into law? That would be like saying Regan was pro-illegal immigration because he signed that amnesty bill, even though it was the result of Congressional negotiations and had a number of provisions that would have, if implemented as required, would have prevented the immigration issues we have now. And, he was against it.
The far easier argument would be, "Trump would have been called a Liberal lunatic when Re
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Who are these "craziest screaming radicals on the left" you speak of? Let's hear their crazy radical ideas!
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I can't believe you [1]have to ask [youtube.com].
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moWe3rk7LzQ
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That's fair, well reasoned, positive, and correct.
BURN IN HELL HERETIC!
Re: (Score:2)
You mean the science oriented Dems ?
Those that think Islands like Guam can capsize if too many troops are sent there ?
Those Dems ? Or "No, not those dems!" ?
Occam's razor (Score:1)
> Earth Is Getting Darker, Literally, and Scientists Are Trying To Find Out Why
We're either in the [1]Darkest Timeline [fandom.com] or the [2]DC Universe [wikipedia.org]. Not sure which would be worse. (Washington D.C. maybe in both at the moment.)
[1] https://community-sitcom.fandom.com/wiki/Darkest_Timeline
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_Universe_(franchise)
Obligatory Project Hail Mary links (Score:1)
[1]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=... [youtube.com]
[2]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik... [wikipedia.org].
[1] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m08TxIsFTRI
[2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Hail_Mary#:~:text=Weir%20sold%20the%20book's%20film,release%20window%20for%20the%20film
Global Dimming! (Score:1)
Quick! We need new regulations and taxes to prevent global dimming!
TLDR (Score:4, Interesting)
Earth is reflecting slightly less sunlight than before, about a fraction of a percent per decade, mostly in the Northern Hemisphere. This is due to melting ice, fewer pollution aerosols that normally help form reflective clouds, and big events like wildfires or volcanoes. You cannot see the change with your eyes, but the extra absorbed energy is enough to affect climate and warming.
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So this is going to make the planet warmer? Wha aerosols should we be using to reflect more light?
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Also, lowered air pollution - things like catalytic converters and such lowered the amount of NOx and acid rain producing chemicals from the air, which had the effect of cleaning up the air. But that also meant less sunlight was being reflected into space.
So yeah, the effect is relatively minor, and anyone who's lived in LA or Beijing probably can tell you smog days suck, but it's also an unexpected side effect of cleaning up the air so you can breathe.
photons (Score:2)
It's the solar panels vacuuming up all the photons to turn into crypto
Why is it getting darker? (Score:1)
Because the air is thicker with more pollution.
Random Chance (Score:2)
> clouds circulate in a way that equalizes hemispheric differences, such as the uneven distribution of land, so that the albedos roughly match -- though nobody knows why.
Have they considered random chance? We know that today's arrangements of continents and ocean currents is just the result of random plate tectonics over the last 4.5 billion years so why would we expect that there is a reason other than random chance? The moon happens to be almost the exact same angular size as the sun which is why we get such spectacular solar eclipses but there are no astronomers wondering why the two are the same angular size - it is just random chance.
Unless there is evidence that t
Re: (Score:2)
>> clouds circulate in a way that equalizes hemispheric differences, such as the uneven distribution of land, so that the albedos roughly match -- though nobody knows why.
> Have they considered random chance? We know that today's arrangements of continents and ocean currents is just the result of random plate tectonics over the last 4.5 billion years so why would we expect that there is a reason other than random chance? The moon happens to be almost the exact same angular size as the sun which is why we get such spectacular solar eclipses but there are no astronomers wondering why the two are the same angular size - it is just random chance.
> Unless there is evidence that the two hemispheres have always had the same albedo over the last few billion years i.e. over a period where the arrangement of continents and ocean currents have varied widely, then there is no reason to suspect anything but random chance.
Next you'll be saying the anthropic principle is true!
I'm no scientist but... (Score:2)
I don't know, ice caps are melting, less white area, less light reflected?
guessing... (Score:2)
Higher CO2 content in atmosphere -> more plant growth -> more deep green viewed from above = "darker"
That's just a place to look. We'll figure it out; it's certainly not some grand cosmic magic.
Bender was right? (Score:2)
So Bender was right, it was really bright in the past?
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there was less roadways, parking lots, solar fields, and concrete buildings. If you want it to be just as bright, paint everything beige or green. Or, just dump millions of gallons of white paint into the ocean. /sarcasm
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Yes, in fact 13.8 billion years ago you would not believe how bright it was.