Earth has absorbed the energy of 25 billion atomic bombs in the last 50 years

A new study finds that global warming has trapped explosives in Earth's atmosphere.

amount of energy over the last half century. It is equal to about 25 billion atomic bombs. The scientists' findings were published in the journal Earth System Science Data.

In general, the amount of energy capturedglobal warming in the period from 1971 to 2020 is about 380 zettajoules, that is, 380,000,000,000,000,000,000,000  joules.

Such a large number is difficult to put into context.But two researchers not involved in the study put it into perspective by comparing the energy to that of a nuclear bomb. In an article for the Conversation, climate scientists Andrew King, from the University of Melbourne in Australia, and Stephen Sherwood, from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, calculated that 380 zettajoules is about 25 billion times the energy released by the explosion of an atomic bomb dropped to Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945.

Even more striking is that the energy absorbedthe planet during this time period likely accounts for only about 60% of total greenhouse gas emissions, so the actual number is even higher, King and Sherwood write.

The temperature should have risen much higherstronger, but according to the study, the oceans absorbed about 89% of the energy (338.2 zettajoules), land - 6% (22.8 zettajoules), 4% (15.2 zettajoules) melted parts of the cryosphere - the part of the Earth's climate system that includes snow, sea ice, freshwater ice, icebergs, glaciers and ice caps, ice sheets, ice shelves and permafrost, and only 1% (3.8 zettajoules) remained in the atmosphere.

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Cover illustration: Public Domain Pictures

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