health
What are zettajoules
When James Prescott Joule lent his name to a unit of energy, he could not have foreseen today’s alarming calculations
TL;DR
- A zettajoule is a unit of energy equal to one billion trillion joules.
- Earth's energy imbalance has increased significantly, contributing to dangerous warming of oceans, land, and air.
- The oceans absorbed a record 23 zettajoules last year, more than 90% of solar radiation.
- This energy imbalance is compared to multiple Hiroshima atomic bombs detonating per second or boiling billions of Olympic-sized swimming pools.
- The increase in energy imbalance is attributed to the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, which release heat-trapping greenhouse gases.
- The first law of thermodynamics, stating energy cannot be created or destroyed but only transferred or converted, explains the fundamental cause of climate breakdown.