The Earth has become darker between 2001 and 2024, meaning it reflects less sunlight, according to a research team published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study, released on Monday, revealed that this change is more pronounced in the Northern Hemisphere compared to the Southern Hemisphere.

A team led by Norman Loeb from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, USA, discovered this previously unknown disparity between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres after analyzing satellite data.

The research group wrote that overall, the Southern Hemisphere gains radiative energy at the top of the atmosphere on average, while there is a net loss in the Northern Hemisphere.

However, previous studies indicated that this imbalance is offset by atmospheric and oceanic circulation, which transfers energy across the equator from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere.