An imperative to monitor Earth's energy imbalance

von Schuckmann, K.; Palmer, M. D.; Trenberth, K. E.; Cazenave, A.; Chambers, D.; Champollion, N.; Hansen, J.; Josey, S.A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1683-8831; Loeb, N.; Mathieu, P.-P.; Meyssignac, B.; Wild, M.. 2016 An imperative to monitor Earth's energy imbalance. Nature Climate Change, 6 (2). 138-144. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2876

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© 2016 Nature Publishing Group This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Nature Climate Change. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version will be published in Nature Climate Change doi:10.1038/nclimate2876
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2876

Abstract/Summary

The current Earth's energy imbalance (EEI) is mostly caused by human activity, and is driving global warming. The absolute value of EEI represents the most fundamental metric defining the status of global climate change, and will be more useful than using global surface temperature. EEI can best be estimated from changes in ocean heat content, complemented by radiation measurements from space. Sustained observations from the Argo array of autonomous profiling floats and further development of the ocean observing system to sample the deep ocean, marginal seas and sea ice regions are crucial to refining future estimates of EEI. Combining multiple measurements in an optimal way holds considerable promise for estimating EEI and thus assessing the status of global climate change, improving climate syntheses and models, and testing the effectiveness of mitigation actions. Progress can be achieved with a concerted international effort.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2876
ISSN:	1758-678X
NORA Subject Terms:	Marine Sciences
Date made live:	27 Jan 2016 13:03 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/512751

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2876

ISSN:

1758-678X

NORA Subject Terms:

Marine Sciences

Date made live:

27 Jan 2016 13:03 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/512751