Shortwave forcing of the Earth's climate: Modern and historical variations in the Sun's irradiance and the Earth's reflectance |
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| Institution: | 1. Collaborative Laboratories for Environmental Analysis and Remediation, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, United States;2. Inform Environmental, LLC, Dallas, TX 75206, United States;3. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, United States;4. Department of Biological Sciences, Tarleton State University, Stephenville, TX 76401, United States;5. Department of Environmental Science, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76706, United States;6. Department of Chemistry, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203, United States;7. Department of Geography, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203, United States;1. Emergency Department, Bichat Hospital, Public Assistance of Parisian Hospitals, Faculty of Medicine, University of Paris, 46 Rue Henri Huchard, 75018 Paris, France;2. Emergency Department, Lariboisière Hospital, Public Assistance of Parisian Hospitals, Faculty of Medicine, University of Paris, 2 Rue Ambroise Pare, 75010 Paris, France;1. Investigative Pathology Laboratory, Federal University of Sergipe, Aracaju, Sergipe, Brazil;2. Health Sciences Graduate Program, Federal University of Sergipe, Aracaju, Sergipe, Brazil;3. Department of Medicine, Tiradentes University, Aracaju, Sergipe, Brazil;4. Laboratory of Neuroscience and Pharmacological Assays, Department of Physiology, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristovão, Sergipe, Brazil;5. Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Assays and Toxicity, Department of Pharmacy, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristovão, Sergipe, Brazil |
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| Abstract: | Changes in the Earth's radiation budget are driven by changes in the balance between the thermal emission from the top of the atmosphere and the net sunlight absorbed. The shortwave radiation entering the climate system depends on the Sun's irradiance and the Earth's reflectance. Often, studies replace the net sunlight by proxy measures of solar irradiance, which is an oversimplification used in efforts to probe the Sun's role in past climate change. With new helioseismic data and new measures of the Earth's reflectance, we can usefully separate and constrain the relative roles of the net sunlight's two components, while probing the degree of their linkage. First, this is possible because helioseismic data provide the most precise measure ever of the solar cycle, which ultimately yields more profound physical limits on past irradiance variations. Since irradiance variations are apparently minimal, changes in the Earth's climate that seem to be associated with changes in the level of solar activity—the Maunder Minimum and the Little Ice age for example—would then seem to be due to terrestrial responses to more subtle changes in the Sun's spectrum of radiative output. This leads naturally to a linkage with terrestrial reflectance, the second component of the net sunlight, as the carrier of the terrestrial amplification of the Sun's varying output. Much progress has also been made in determining this difficult to measure, and not-so-well-known quantity. We review our understanding of these two closely linked, fundamental drivers of climate. |
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