When did you read about Earth's energy imbalance in the popular press - or anywhere, for that matter, apart from specialist publications? I don't remember a single time.
That is strange, because the physical state with that name is the closest thing we have to a precise definition of the climate problem. While we don't mention it, we are always mistaking symptoms of the problem for its causes - and that is seriously misleading.
If the climate problem has a specific cause which is well understood and capable of remedy (which it does), then that is something we should all know about. The really big implication of this is that removing that cause is the only way to get us out of the problem and all its consequences. Nothing - nothing at all - will do except fixing the cause.
The short essay here explains this. Click on it to read.
July 2023
Earth's fever & its cause