Observed Decline in Planetary Albedo and Recent Global Warming Acceleration

Recent satellite observations indicate that Earth's planetary albedo has declined since 2010, increasing solar-energy absorption by the climate system. Using CERES top-of-atmosphere radiative flux measurements, we estimate a mean albedo decline of $\sim0.37\%$ per decade, corresponding to an additional absorbed shortwave flux approaching $1~\mathrm{W\,m^{-2}}$. The associated cumulative heat uptake accelerated after 2014 and reached $\sim180~\mathrm{ZJ}$ by 2024.
We examine whether the observed albedo decline is dynamically consistent with the recent acceleration of global warming. A physically constrained energy-balance model combining greenhouse-gas radiative forcing with CERES-observed shortwave anomalies reproduces observed GMST evolution between 1880 and 2025 more closely than a greenhouse-gas-only baseline. The inferred attenuation timescale suggests substantial upper-ocean heat uptake during the CERES era. The observed post-2010 albedo decline appears energetically consistent with the post-2014 acceleration of GMST.