Two Decades of Data Show That Earth Is ‘Dimming’

Earth’s global dimming reflection means less sunlight and heat is reflected back into space, that’s global warming!

We can immediately bring back the cooling clouds and rain by restoring California’s ocean pastures!

In a paper just published in the acclaimed Geophysical Research Letters (01 October 2021) researchers have reported on the astonishing global dimming of our Blue Planet. The oceans are clearly the source of the global dimming crisis as they are producing fewer bright marine clouds. Such marine clouds are largely responsible for reflecting sunlight back into space, but now as the clouds have been seen to be disappearing the lack of their reflective power and cooling shade is definitively shown in its powerful role in global warming. Over the past two decades, the loss of bright marine clouds has provided as much or even greater forcing of global warming and climate change as all of humanity’s fossil fuel emissions.

When you look at the moon you will see both the bright sunlit part and the dimly illuminated part of the moon. The dim light comes from Earthshine that is now reported to have faded.

The boffins measured the reflectance, or albedo, of Earth by observing the earthshine that illuminates the Moon. Two decades of data, from 1998 to 2017, revealed in the collected measurements showed that Earth is now reflecting about half a watt less light per square meter compared to 1998, the equivalent of a 0.5 percent decrease in Earth’s reflectance. In total, our planet reflects about 30 percent of the sunlight that reaches it.

“For some time, many scientists had hoped that a warmer Earth might lead to more clouds and higher albedo, which would then help to moderate warming and balance the climate system”, said author Goode.

“But this shows the opposite is true. It is very concerning.”

To quantitatively measure the declining Earthshine definitive data from the Big Bear Solar Observatory in California, with about 1,500 nights of usable data, was gathered. Earthshine has been recorded on and off for almost 100 years so it is not something new. Indeed Earthshine was first studied and described by Leonardo da Vinci in the 16th century.

Global dimming steady decline from loss of ocean marine clouds derives from the collapse of ocean pasture plankton. It is the plankton pastures that make the clouds.

This most recent and most accurate measurement of the last 20 years should alarm everyone. To put it into an understandable context the accumulated entire fossil fuel age CO2 emissions, have only warmed the planet by 1.5 watts square meter, only triple the effect of the last 20 years of ocean change.

Ocean science informs us that the collapse of ocean cloud forming processes, we call that ocean pasture collapse, have been in dramatic decline since at least 1950.  The principal cloud-forming particles over the ocean come from ocean phytoplankton now reported to have declined by about 50%.  Do the math, the effect our dying oceans forcing of global dimming and global warming over the past 70 years is far more than the impact of all fossil fuel emissions!

“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,” says theoretical physicist Philip Goode from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

The brightness of Earth depends on both the amount of sunlight reaching it and the reflectiveness of the planet. This study showed the two factors were not in tandem, so something on this Blue Planet is causing the global dimming, and the rate of collapse is rapidly increasing.

Satellite measurements looked at by the research team clearly show that a reduction in bright, reflective, low-lying marine clouds over the eastern Pacific Ocean has been a major contributor to the reduction in Earth’s brightness shown in the data.

“[Earth’s albedo] is an essential determinant of the earth’s climate, since, in the broadest sense, changes in climate arise from the simultaneous evolution of the solar intensity, the Earth’s albedo, and greenhouse insulation,” write the researchers in their published paper.

At the heart of every raindrop lies a tiny speck of plankton, bringing the rains back to California

While this new report gives the world every reason to despair, we imagine it more of a call to action to solve this most powerful of all global warming and climate change causes. There is good reason for hope as at the heart of every raindrop there lies a tiny speck of ocean plankton. Restoring and replenishing the ocean plankton pastures to their historic, pre-fossil fuel age, condition of health and abundance is proven, immediately deployable, and affordable.

At the heart of every raindrop is a tiny speck of plankton. Clouds are formed of microscopic raindrops. Click to read more

In 2014 scientists attending a meeting of the American Chemical Society listened attentively to a paper by Prather, Quinn & Bates that described the vital and potent role of ocean plankton blooms, ocean pastures, to the formation of the clouds that bring vital rains to California. The researchers reported on their extensive studies of clouds and rain over California. Inside of every bit of cloudy mist and raindrop, they discovered tiny plankton hearts were the key to most of the rain that falls on California or at least used to fall on California.

The scientists reported on experiments that definitively proven how the key to cloud condensation nuclei, CCN, came ideally from the immense inventory of tiny natural plankton specks ranging from 40-300 nanometers. These natural nano-particles abound in incredible abundance in the world’s atmosphere but are surely diminishing as ocean plankton pastures become ocean deserts. (Google Scholar Link)

“Nobody kind of believed that they could change the amount of water or snow you get,” Prather said. “This was the first evidence that they could, in fact, change the amount of precipitation.”

“It’s like a switch. If these particles aren’t there, clouds just sit there and maybe rain a little bit,” Prather added.

“It’s clear that Mother Nature has developed very effective ways to seed clouds, so perhaps we could take some tips from her.”

Plankton Rains Life On The Yosemite Range In The High Sierra Of California. Without the ocean’s healthy ocean plankton pastures this region’s rains are failing and the mountains are drying up in severe droughts.

Something has gone missing that helps make clouds. This brings us back to where we started this article and the work of Quinn & Bates who have nailed that cloud formation side of the puzzle. It’s the plankton as well! Without clouds, there is nothing for the specks Prather needs to seed and generate her beloved raindrops and snowflakes.

But if scientists are able to gain a deeper understanding of which dust particles best form ice and which don’t, they may be able to maximize precipitation when clouds do form and stave off future droughts like the one that has befallen California. More than 80 percent of California is in a state of extreme drought, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center. Almost 60 percent of the state is in a state of “exceptional drought”—the most severe category.

Call To Action

Click to read more

Might it be that by restoring the greatly diminished ocean pastures to the west of California Gaia can be given a helping hand to help us. If we give back to the ocean and restore and revive her ocean pastures will she bring the rain.

Additional reading:

EARTH’S CLOUDS KEEP US COOL BUT OUR CLOUDS ARE IN DANGER  https://russgeorge.net/2016/06/20/earths-clouds-keep-us-cool-but-our-clouds-in-danger/

Earth Is Dimming  https://scitechdaily.com/earth-is-dimming-its-due-to-climate-change/

Earth’s Energy Budget Remained Out of Balance Despite Unusually Low Solar Activity
Jan. 30, 2012 https://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20120130b/