Climate is accumulating 4 Hiroshima atomic bombs worth of heat per second
This article discusses the rate of global warming, equating the heat accumulation of the Earth's climate system to four Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs per second. It highlights the role of greenhouse gas emissions and introduces a widget designed to help the public visualize these scientific findings.
Why it matters
It provides a tangible metric for understanding the scale of climate change, which is often difficult for the general public to conceptualize.
Our climate is absorbing a lot of heat. When scientists add up all of the heat warming the oceans, land, and atmosphere and melting the ice, they find our climate is accumulating 4 Hiroshima atomic bombs worth of heat every second.
This warming is due to more heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The burning of fossil fuels means we are emitting billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide every year. This is the main contributor to global warming.
To communicate the sheer amount of heat our planet is accumulating, we have created this widget, embeddable on blogs and also available as a Facebook app, an iPad app, and an iPhone app. To help get the word out on just how much global warming our planet is experiencing, add the widget to your own blog or use the widget on Facebook, like it and share it.
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