Increasingly cold sun?

Although the earth is getting warmer, the heat from the sun shining on Earth has decreased slightly in the last 5 years. It can be clearly seen through observing the dim light of the moon that has been carried out for 10 years at the Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO ) in California, USA.

On average, the earth reflects back into the universe nearly a third of the light shining on the earth. Astronomers say that the earth's projection (albedo) reaches nearly 0.3. But that reflection rate is unstable due to the influence of the cloud layer and the ever-changing layer of earth snow.

Big Bear Solar Observatory (The Big Bear Solar Observatory-BBSO) in California, USA.

The average value of the reflection rate over a long period of time, such as for a year, is important for climate studies.

To determine that, it is necessary to regularly monitor the state of the entire cloud covering the earth and measuring the amount of light and heat escaping from the earth.

Modern satellite systems allow it to do so, but there is a much simpler and cheaper method from the earth to observe the dim light of the moon. The brighter the light, the more the earth sheds more sunlight into space.

At Big Bear solar station, to measure people use a solar telescope of only 6 inches and leave at night. One advantage is that the moon is quite far away from the earth and from the moon can see almost half of the earth. Moreover, near the moon, it can be seen that most of the earth is not illuminated by the sun.

That way, it is possible to determine the amount of radiation from the Earth.

Scientists led by Philip Goode and Steven Koonin began to observe in 1997.

In the first years they found that the reflection of the earth gradually declined. At that time, they explained the situation by warming the earth's climate, but since 2000, the observation results show that the earth's reflection is constantly increasing, which results in the Earth receiving from the sun. less heat.

This is a bit strange in the context of global warming.

The data provided by the satellite also shows that the Earth's reflectivity increases.