The Real Cause Behind Global Warming

2023 is set to be the hottest 12 months in human history. Melting ice and warming seas at alarming rates have left scientists scrambling to understand the causes behind global warming.

Long-established factors such as fossil fuel burning and extreme weather events such as El Niño are not enough to explain the rapid pace of global warming.

But in a December 5 issue of the journal Science , the missing piece of the puzzle has been identified. A team of scientists has shown that  dark, low-lying clouds over the ocean may have contributed to accelerating global warming.

Low and dark clouds are believed to be one of the key factors contributing to rapid global warming. (Photo: Reuters).

The fact that light-colored clouds are appearing less and less often means that the Earth is absorbing more sunlight, according to Helge Goessling, a climate physicist at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany.

This phenomenon is called "albedo" and refers to the ability of surfaces to reflect heat from the Sun back into space.

According to CNN , Earth's albedo has dropped sharply since the 1970s, partly due to the melting of light-colored sea ice, exposing darker land and water, which absorb more sunlight and heat the Earth's surface.

Low clouds are also thought to affect the sun's albedo. Scientists analyzing NASA data found that the decrease in low clouds led to a decrease in Earth's albedo in 2023, contributing to record-breaking heat.

Some regions such as the North Atlantic have seen significant drops in albedo, according to the team.

However, scientists have not yet been able to determine the cause of this condition.

'The connection between low-lying, dark clouds and global warming is a real conundrum ,' said Goessling.

Mark Zalinka, an atmospheric scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, compares clouds to 'the Earth's sunscreen.' He also told CNN that small changes in clouds can 'cause dramatic changes in the Earth's albedo.'