Dear MEL Topic Readers,
The Earth isn't as bright as it once was
How can we measure how bright the Earth is? Of course, our planet doesn’t shine itself, though we humans lit a little artificially. But the earth reflects the sun’s light. And the dark side of the Moon catches the reflected glow. So, if we observe the earth’s glow that is reflected by the Moon, we can technically measure how bright the earth is. And the amount of reflection by the earth varies by cloud cover. The more cloud covers the earth’s surface, the more the light is reflected. Recently, by using this methodology, researchers found that the earth hasn’t been reflecting as much light from the sun in the last three years as it had been during the previous 17 years. It is not clear if global warming was the cause of this lessened cloud cover. But measuring the brightness of the earth might be another way to monitor the health of our planet.
Enjoy reading the article and learn about what the earth’s brightness means.
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/10/04/weather/earth-dimming-climate/index.html
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