How Much Heat Has Earth Accumulated Each Year on Average from 2005 to 2015?
To calculate the heat accumulation on Earth, we can use information from the study by von Schuckmann et al., which estimated that the Earth has been gaining heat at a rate of approximately 0.87 watts per square meter from 2005 to 2015[15].
Calculation Steps:
- The Earth has a surface area of about \(5.1 \times 10^{14}\) square meters.
- So, the rate of heat accumulation would be \(0.87 \, \text{W/m}^2 \times 5.1 \times 10^{14} \, \text{m}^2 = 4.437 \times 10^{14} \, \text{W}\).
- To find the heat accumulation per year, you would multiply this rate by the number of seconds in a year (\(3.1536 \times 10^7\) seconds): \(4.437 \times 10^{14} \, \text{W} \times 3.1536 \times 10^7 \, \text{s/year} = 1.399 \times 10^{22} \, \text{J/year}\).
- Since 1 Zettajoule = \(1 \times 10^{21}\) Joules, the annual heat accumulation would be \(1.399 \times 10^{22} \, \text{J/year} \times (1 \, \text{ZJ} / 10^{21} \, \text{J}) = 13.99 \, \text{ZJ/year}\).
Based on these calculations, Earth would have accumulated approximately 13.99 Zettajoules of heat each year on average from 2005 to 2015.
References:
- von Schuckmann et al., “Heat stored in the Earth system: where does the energy go?”, Earth System Science Data, 2020