Climate change has been showing signs for more than a century. Scientists from different institutions (NASA, UCAR and Earth.com) have made a study using historic data and modern technology to prove carbon dioxide emissions impact, due to the Industrial Revolution, could have been noticed in 1885. Thanks to some climate analysis simulations, scientists have confirmed if we had had current tools like sensors used in missions such as Magellan or the future VERITAS back then, we could have seen the beginning of global warming way earlier.
This new study shows in more detail how long we have been altering the Earth’s climate balance and the importance of acting now before it is too late. So, let’s learn more about this useful study on climate change.
The study, comparing now and then
At the beginning, scientists decided to do this study as a hypothetical exercise to imagine what could have happened if scientists in the past had the tools we have today. It was assumed back in 1860, scientists had tools that allowed them to precisely measure changes in the Earth’s atmosphere. These tools were similar to current ones like:
- Satellite microwave radiometers used to measure atmospheric temperatures from space.
- Analysis of ice cores showing composition of the air in the past.
- Stratospheric balloons which collect temperature data and gases of different layers in the atmosphere.
With all of this simulated data, they used the fingerprint method which allows scientists to distinguish between climate effects provoked by nature and those caused by human activity.
The first sign of this climate change
When we hear about climate change, the first thing that comes to our minds is higher temperatures, but this study proves the first detectable sign of climate change was the cooling of the stratosphere. This is a layer of the atmosphere right above the troposphere, where climate happens.
So, this cooling is useful for answering things like the increase of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that catch the heat in the lowest layers of the atmosphere. Another aspect this cooling can give an answer to is the loss of the ozone layer, which reduces the stratosphere’s capacity of absorbing and keeping heat.
This way, when the troposphere (the lower part of the atmosphere) starts to heat up, the stratosphere (the upper part of the atmosphere) begins cooling. This difference is a clear example of human impact on the climate.
Importance of the stratosphere
This layer is very useful to detect climate change signs because it’s less influenced by variations of daily climate like rains or winds, it also allows to observe more stable patterns for a longer period of time, and this layer is not directly affected by short time natural events.
This is why scientists in the past could have detected clear climate change signs even before the 20th century, if they had had our modern tools.
Does it have to do anything with us?
Of course it does! Our influence on climate has been so constant and growing that now we are at a critical point. We can’t redo what happened in the past, but we can start a change in the present, because what we do in the next decades will mean a lot for Earth. There are so many green alternatives, for example, for everyday appliances that could make a positive change on how we contribute to the environment, so why not look for other options having in mind we are the ones who have started all of this? We can either increase the risk or reduce it, it’s up to us and the institutions.
English (US) ·