New satellite data confirm Earth is warming and maybe at a faster pace

Just in time for Earth Day, new satellite data corroborate scientists' findings that the Earth is warming at an alarming rate.

The new data, from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua satellite, corroborates findings from the Surface Temperature Analysis of the Goddard Institute of Space Studies that showed that 2015, 2016, and 2017 were the hottest years ever recorded

The GISTEMP data, so far the most comprehensive preserved by the US government, use land thermometers, as well as many others based on buoys and elsewhere at sea, to record temperatures and takes an average. AIRS uses 2,400 wavelengths of light to create 3D maps of temperature, humidity and clouds in the atmosphere.

What is striking in the new study is that its recordings closely mirror those of GISTEMP between 2003 and 2017. One of the weaknesses of the GISTEMP data is that its findings concerning the polar regions are rare because it is difficult to let the instruments operate there and there is less time. stations with these instruments.

AIRS satellite data is, however, perfect for filling these gaps. It shows that temperatures in the Arctic have increased faster than GISTEMP data show: 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit) per decade, since 2003. To avoid the most catastrophic damage of change Climate, the Paris Agreement on Climate has global temperatures at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. The colder polar regions trapping water in the ice sheets are the key to this goal.

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The new data corroborate the findings that the Arctic is warming faster than expected and that understanding of global warming in the Arctic is important for what is happening in the rest of the world, "said the scientist. Berkeley University, Zeke Hausfather. The Washington Post.

Previous satellite temperature data was based on microwave readings, which did not always correspond to those of ground-based instruments, leaving climate science open to questioning.

The new AIRS data gives scientists much greater confidence in the accuracy of existing global temperature measurements that show the Earth is warming up.

"The estimates we get from the trends in the surface temperature network and the ocean buoy network are matched by a ridiculous certainty by the trends we're getting from this remote sensing," said the co-author of the report. study, Gavin Schmidt, NASA. scientist who is leading the GISTEMP study, in a American scientist report.

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Such a correlation will make it more difficult for critics of climate change theory to thwart efforts to mitigate global warming. AIRS satellite data is based on more recent infrared readings. Data from Earth-scanning satellites are a source of concern for surface temperature readings from urban heat islands and polar surveys from only the coasts.

"This is a very good demonstration that, once again, a totally independent methodology ends up producing not only qualitatively the same results, but quantitatively the same results," said Schmidt. "We know the planet is warming up, but it's one more nail for people who say that surface temperature estimates are uncertain or reliable."

Of course, confirming that the world is warming faster than expected is not good news. But confirm that climate science gives us better tools to fight it.

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