Earth's Energy Imbalance More Than Doubled in Recent Decades

Thorsten Mauritsen; Yoko Tsushima; Benoit Meyssignac; Norman G. Loeb; Maria Hakuba; Peter Pilewskie; Jason Cole; Kentaroh Suzuki; Thomas P. Ackerman; Richard P. Allan; Timothy Andrews; Frida A.M. Bender; Jonah Bloch-Johnson; Alejandro Bodas-Salcedo; Anca Brookshaw; Paulo Ceppi; Nicolas Clerbaux; Andrew E. Dessler; Aaron Donohoe; Jean Louis Dufresne; Veronika Eyring; Kirsten L. Findell; Andrew Gettelman; Jake J. Gristey; Ed Hawkins; Patrick Heimbach; Helene T. Hewitt; Nadir Jeevanjee; Colin Jones; Sarah M. Kang; Seiji Kato; Jennifer E. Kay; Stephen A. Klein; Reto Knutti; Ryan Kramer; June Yi Lee; Daniel T. McCoy; Brian Medeiros; Linda Megner; Angshuman Modak; Tomoo Ogura; Matthew D. Palmer; David Paynter; Johannes Quaas; Veerabhadran Ramanathan; Mark Ringer; Karina von Schuckmann; Steven Sherwood; Bjorn Stevens; Ivy Tan; George Tselioudis; Rowan Sutton; Aiko Voigt; Masahiro Watanabe; Mark J. Webb; Martin Wild; Mark D. Zelinka

doi:10.1029/2024AV001636

Earth's Energy Imbalance More Than Doubled in Recent Decades

Thorsten Mauritsen, Yoko Tsushima, Benoit Meyssignac, Norman G. Loeb, Maria Hakuba, Peter Pilewskie, Jason Cole, Kentaroh Suzuki, Thomas P. Ackerman, Richard P. Allan, Timothy Andrews, Frida A.M. Bender, Jonah Bloch-Johnson, Alejandro Bodas-Salcedo, Anca Brookshaw, Paulo Ceppi, Nicolas Clerbaux, Andrew E. Dessler, Aaron Donohoe, Jean Louis DufresneVeronika Eyring, Kirsten L. Findell, Andrew Gettelman, Jake J. Gristey, Ed Hawkins, Patrick Heimbach, Helene T. Hewitt, Nadir Jeevanjee, Colin Jones, Sarah M. Kang, Seiji Kato, Jennifer E. Kay, Stephen A. Klein, Reto Knutti, Ryan Kramer, June Yi Lee, Daniel T. McCoy, Brian Medeiros, Linda Megner, Angshuman Modak, Tomoo Ogura, Matthew D. Palmer, David Paynter, Johannes Quaas, Veerabhadran Ramanathan, Mark Ringer, Karina von Schuckmann, Steven Sherwood, Bjorn Stevens, Ivy Tan, George Tselioudis, Rowan Sutton, Aiko Voigt, Masahiro Watanabe, Mark J. Webb, Martin Wild, Mark D. Zelinka

Department of Meteorology and Geophysics

Publications: Contribution to journal › Annotation › Peer Reviewed

Abstract

Global warming results from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions which upset the delicate balance between the incoming sunlight, and the reflected and emitted radiation from Earth. The imbalance leads to energy accumulation in the atmosphere, oceans and land, and melting of the cryosphere, resulting in increasing temperatures, rising sea levels, and more extreme weather around the globe. Despite the fundamental role of the energy imbalance in regulating the climate system, as known to humanity for more than two centuries, our capacity to observe it is rapidly deteriorating as satellites are being decommissioned.

Original language	English
Article number	e2024AV001636
Journal	AGU Advances
Volume	6
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2024AV001636
Publication status	Published - Jun 2025

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

105205 Climate change

Keywords

climate change
energy imbalance

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1029/2024AV001636

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Mauritsen, T., Tsushima, Y., Meyssignac, B., Loeb, N. G., Hakuba, M., Pilewskie, P., Cole, J., Suzuki, K., Ackerman, T. P., Allan, R. P., Andrews, T., Bender, F. A. M., Bloch-Johnson, J., Bodas-Salcedo, A., Brookshaw, A., Ceppi, P., Clerbaux, N., Dessler, A. E., Donohoe, A., ... Zelinka, M. D. (2025). Earth's Energy Imbalance More Than Doubled in Recent Decades. AGU Advances, 6(3), Article e2024AV001636. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024AV001636

@article{a86ed7443981469286d0b92643419571,

title = "Earth's Energy Imbalance More Than Doubled in Recent Decades",

abstract = "Global warming results from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions which upset the delicate balance between the incoming sunlight, and the reflected and emitted radiation from Earth. The imbalance leads to energy accumulation in the atmosphere, oceans and land, and melting of the cryosphere, resulting in increasing temperatures, rising sea levels, and more extreme weather around the globe. Despite the fundamental role of the energy imbalance in regulating the climate system, as known to humanity for more than two centuries, our capacity to observe it is rapidly deteriorating as satellites are being decommissioned.",

keywords = "climate change, energy imbalance",

author = "Thorsten Mauritsen and Yoko Tsushima and Benoit Meyssignac and Loeb, \{Norman G.\} and Maria Hakuba and Peter Pilewskie and Jason Cole and Kentaroh Suzuki and Ackerman, \{Thomas P.\} and Allan, \{Richard P.\} and Timothy Andrews and Bender, \{Frida A.M.\} and Jonah Bloch-Johnson and Alejandro Bodas-Salcedo and Anca Brookshaw and Paulo Ceppi and Nicolas Clerbaux and Dessler, \{Andrew E.\} and Aaron Donohoe and Dufresne, \{Jean Louis\} and Veronika Eyring and Findell, \{Kirsten L.\} and Andrew Gettelman and Gristey, \{Jake J.\} and Ed Hawkins and Patrick Heimbach and Hewitt, \{Helene T.\} and Nadir Jeevanjee and Colin Jones and Kang, \{Sarah M.\} and Seiji Kato and Kay, \{Jennifer E.\} and Klein, \{Stephen A.\} and Reto Knutti and Ryan Kramer and Lee, \{June Yi\} and McCoy, \{Daniel T.\} and Brian Medeiros and Linda Megner and Angshuman Modak and Tomoo Ogura and Palmer, \{Matthew D.\} and David Paynter and Johannes Quaas and Veerabhadran Ramanathan and Mark Ringer and \{von Schuckmann\}, Karina and Steven Sherwood and Bjorn Stevens and Ivy Tan and George Tselioudis and Rowan Sutton and Aiko Voigt and Masahiro Watanabe and Webb, \{Mark J.\} and Martin Wild and Zelinka, \{Mark D.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025. The Author(s).",

year = "2025",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1029/2024AV001636",

language = "English",

volume = "6",

journal = "AGU Advances",

issn = "2576-604X",

publisher = "John Wiley \& Sons",

number = "3",

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Mauritsen, T, Tsushima, Y, Meyssignac, B, Loeb, NG, Hakuba, M, Pilewskie, P, Cole, J, Suzuki, K, Ackerman, TP, Allan, RP, Andrews, T, Bender, FAM, Bloch-Johnson, J, Bodas-Salcedo, A, Brookshaw, A, Ceppi, P, Clerbaux, N, Dessler, AE, Donohoe, A, Dufresne, JL, Eyring, V, Findell, KL, Gettelman, A, Gristey, JJ, Hawkins, E, Heimbach, P, Hewitt, HT, Jeevanjee, N, Jones, C, Kang, SM, Kato, S, Kay, JE, Klein, SA, Knutti, R, Kramer, R, Lee, JY, McCoy, DT, Medeiros, B, Megner, L, Modak, A, Ogura, T, Palmer, MD, Paynter, D, Quaas, J, Ramanathan, V, Ringer, M, von Schuckmann, K, Sherwood, S, Stevens, B, Tan, I, Tselioudis, G, Sutton, R, Voigt, A, Watanabe, M, Webb, MJ, Wild, M & Zelinka, MD 2025, 'Earth's Energy Imbalance More Than Doubled in Recent Decades', AGU Advances, vol. 6, no. 3, e2024AV001636. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024AV001636

TY - JOUR

T1 - Earth's Energy Imbalance More Than Doubled in Recent Decades

AU - Mauritsen, Thorsten

AU - Tsushima, Yoko

AU - Meyssignac, Benoit

AU - Loeb, Norman G.

AU - Hakuba, Maria

AU - Pilewskie, Peter

AU - Cole, Jason

AU - Suzuki, Kentaroh

AU - Ackerman, Thomas P.

AU - Allan, Richard P.

AU - Andrews, Timothy

AU - Bender, Frida A.M.

AU - Bloch-Johnson, Jonah

AU - Bodas-Salcedo, Alejandro

AU - Brookshaw, Anca

AU - Ceppi, Paulo

AU - Clerbaux, Nicolas

AU - Dessler, Andrew E.

AU - Donohoe, Aaron

AU - Dufresne, Jean Louis

AU - Eyring, Veronika

AU - Findell, Kirsten L.

AU - Gettelman, Andrew

AU - Gristey, Jake J.

AU - Hawkins, Ed

AU - Heimbach, Patrick

AU - Hewitt, Helene T.

AU - Jeevanjee, Nadir

AU - Jones, Colin

AU - Kang, Sarah M.

AU - Kato, Seiji

AU - Kay, Jennifer E.

AU - Klein, Stephen A.

AU - Knutti, Reto

AU - Kramer, Ryan

AU - Lee, June Yi

AU - McCoy, Daniel T.

AU - Medeiros, Brian

AU - Megner, Linda

AU - Modak, Angshuman

AU - Ogura, Tomoo

AU - Palmer, Matthew D.

AU - Paynter, David

AU - Quaas, Johannes

AU - Ramanathan, Veerabhadran

AU - Ringer, Mark

AU - von Schuckmann, Karina

AU - Sherwood, Steven

AU - Stevens, Bjorn

AU - Tan, Ivy

AU - Tselioudis, George

AU - Sutton, Rowan

AU - Voigt, Aiko

AU - Watanabe, Masahiro

AU - Webb, Mark J.

AU - Wild, Martin

AU - Zelinka, Mark D.

PY - 2025/6

Y1 - 2025/6

N2 - Global warming results from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions which upset the delicate balance between the incoming sunlight, and the reflected and emitted radiation from Earth. The imbalance leads to energy accumulation in the atmosphere, oceans and land, and melting of the cryosphere, resulting in increasing temperatures, rising sea levels, and more extreme weather around the globe. Despite the fundamental role of the energy imbalance in regulating the climate system, as known to humanity for more than two centuries, our capacity to observe it is rapidly deteriorating as satellites are being decommissioned.

AB - Global warming results from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions which upset the delicate balance between the incoming sunlight, and the reflected and emitted radiation from Earth. The imbalance leads to energy accumulation in the atmosphere, oceans and land, and melting of the cryosphere, resulting in increasing temperatures, rising sea levels, and more extreme weather around the globe. Despite the fundamental role of the energy imbalance in regulating the climate system, as known to humanity for more than two centuries, our capacity to observe it is rapidly deteriorating as satellites are being decommissioned.

KW - climate change

KW - energy imbalance

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105004681199

U2 - 10.1029/2024AV001636

DO - 10.1029/2024AV001636

M3 - Annotation

AN - SCOPUS:105004681199

SN - 2576-604X

VL - 6

JO - AGU Advances

JF - AGU Advances

IS - 3

M1 - e2024AV001636

ER -

Earth's Energy Imbalance More Than Doubled in Recent Decades

Abstract

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

Keywords

UN SDGs

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