The motivation for the NASA study came from the results of a 2010 article published in Science by Kevin Trenberth and John Fasullo of the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
The duo compared satellite measurements of incoming solar radiation to outgoing infrared radiation between 2004 and 2008. The difference between satellite measurements of that net balance compared to the rate of heating within the top 700 meters of the ocean turned up a net difference
In other words, the incoming energy from the sun was not being accounted for in all of the methods scientists use to measure temperatures on the surface of the earth and in orbit.
The two scientists suggested in another paper published in 2011 that the missing energy may be energy that scientists currently do not measure in the deeper depths of the ocean.
NASA Discovers Missing Energy
The suggestion moved NASA researchers into action.
NASA scientists, led by Norman Loeb at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia and Graeme Stephens of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena California, collected data from 2001 through 2010 in order to decipher the mystery.
The scientists utilized NASA’s own satellite instruments called the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System Experiment (CERES) to measure the sort of net radiation levels that the NCAR researchers had measured.
However, in addition to that data, the NASA scientists also made use of data from three ocean sensors in order to compare sub-surface temperatures to the net energy balance recorded by satellite.
The scientists discovered that when the ocean measurements were included with the satellite data, that the net sum was zero. In other words, all of the “missing energy” was actually being stored in the ocean itself.
How the Ocean Works as an Energy Capacitor
What the findings reveal is that the oceans are serving as a sort of “energy storage” device, with the heat sinking down below the surface, only to eventually rise back up into the Earth’s atmosphere at a later time.
NASA scientists explained the phenomenon in an article published in the National Geosciences journal.
“Our data show that Earth has been accumulating heat in the ocean at a rate of half a watt per square meter (10.8 square feet), with no sign of a decline. This extra energy will eventually find its way back into the atmosphere and increase temperatures on Earth.”
Scientists have known all along that about 90 percent of the heat from global temperature increases from greenhouse gases were being stored in the oceans, but the previous NCAR measurements created concern that scientists weren’t properly measuring those energy changes.
According to a press releaase issued by Langley, the stored energy in the ocean could eventually result in an even greater increase in global temperatures in the future.
“If released back into the atmosphere, a half-watt per square meter accumulation of heat could increase global temperatures by 0.3 or more degrees centigrade (0.54 degree Fahrenheit).”
References & Image Credits:
(1) NASA
(2) NASA – Missing Energy
Ryan Dube is editor-in-chief of TSW and an electrical engineer in the automation industry. He spends his time investigating declassified government documents, legends and conspiracy theories. Ryan has 303 post(s) at Top Secret Writers
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