A new study published on Nature It tells an interesting phenomenon: the earth, in the last twenty years, has reflected more sunlight than before. This happens because the earth’s surface has increased the albedo, that is, the ability to reject a part of the sun radiation: less heat retained, more light sent back to space.
It might seem good news, and in part it is, but it is not a gift, nor a solution, and it is better to understand well what we are talking about, before the thing is transformed into yet another alibi for those who would like to continue to pretend nothing about climate change.
The study was coordinated by the Normal University of Beijing, with the contribution of Italy, thanks to the participation of Giovanni Forzieri, professor at the University of Florence. The researchers analyzed satellite data from 2001 to 2020: the result is a 2.2% increase in the terrestrial surface albedo in the snow -free areas. This has led to a clear reduction in sun energy absorbed by the earth: according to the authors, an effect that compensates for about 60% of the heating produced by CO₂ emissions in the same period.
However, attention: the mechanism is neither voluntary nor stable, rather it is the result of changes in the ecosystems in part due to the transformations that we have triggered. The reduction of vegetation density, the increase in non -photosynthetic material, the variation of the terrestrial coverage in certain areas are making some surfaces more reflective. This, for now, has partly balanced the extra heat we have entered into the atmosphere.
In the meantime, ice and snows continue to melt, reducing the albedo in other areas and is a fragile balance, not a weapon against climate change. It is important to reiterate it: the earth is not an “intentional” subject who is trying to save us (although human beings tend to see intentional agents everywhere, as when they talk about nature, as if it were a sentient entity).
In short, it is not that the earth has chosen to help us, he has not decided to “protect the climate”. It is a complex physical system that reacts, with its dynamics, to the imbalances we are creating, and exchange this reaction for a gesture aware of nature (as many do, misunderstanding what has been said in the study by the authors themselves) is yet another anthropocentric illusion.
To make it short this new study is used to improve climatic models, not to authorize political laziness or convenience optimism. If we want to reduce the damage, the responsibility remains ours, and not to “save the planet”, which does not need us.
Also because I personally save the humanity of the next centuries does not care little and nothing. Last, the planet, who cares more than me of global overheating. I quote George Carlin in one of his famous show: “The planet is fine. The People Are Fucked.”