The atmosphere's efficiency as a heat engine is increasing in response to climate change

New research has found that the efficiency of the Earth's global atmosphere as a heat engine has increased over the past four decades in response to climate change.
<img src="https://vortex.accuweather.com/adc2004/pub/includes/columns/climatewx/2017/590x590_01242000_epic_1b_20160705031407_01.png"/>

The research team, led by Liming Li, assistant professor of physics at the University of Houston, utilized satellite data gathered over a 35-year period to conduct the study.

The study, which was recently published in the journal Nature Communications, is the first to explore long-term variations of the <a href="http://linkingweatherandclimate.com/learn/lorenz.php" target=n>Lorenz Energy Cycle</a>, which is a formula that is used to describe the interaction between potential and kinetic energy in the atmosphere, according to the <a href="http://www.uh.edu/news-events/stories/2017/January/01242017Energy-Cycle-Global-Warming.php" target=n>University of Houston news report.</a>

The results of this study show that more potential energy is being converted to kinetic energy. Kinetic energy drives atmospheric movement, which means that there is a greater potential for destructive storms in regions where the conversion takes place.

The report also noted that while the total mechanical energy of the global atmosphere remains constant over time, there has been a significant increase in what they describe as “eddy energies,” or the energies associated with storms, eddies and turbulence.