In contrast to rising carbon dioxide levels, which cool Earth’s upper atmosphere, rising carbon emissions heat the atmosphere close to the planet’s surface. According to scientists, this phenomenon may affect satellites, and the ozone layer, and lead to changes in the local weather.
The proof of humanity’s role in climate change has been strengthened by a recent study that was published in PNAS. The troposphere, where the majority of Earth’s weather occurs, and the lower stratosphere have been the subject of previous studies, but the mid- to upper-stratosphere, which is located between 30 and 50 kilometers (18.6 and 31.1 miles) above Earth’s surface, has received less attention.
As a result of researchers discovering temperature variations in the upper atmosphere, humanity’s influence on the climate is now five times more discernible. The study concludes that natural explanations for developments in the thermal structure of the Earth’s atmosphere observed by satellites are now essentially unachievable.
The upper atmosphere’s cooling patterns give rise to further worries. High winds and air that can quickly rise and fall inside and beyond each layer characterize the stratosphere as well as other outer layers of the atmosphere, such as the mesosphere and thermosphere. The current worry is that changing carbon dioxide emission patterns could affect these patterns.
This research refutes assertions that recent atmospheric and surface temperature fluctuations are a result of internal climate system cycles or of the Sun. Benjamin Santer, the study’s lead author and an adjunct scientist in the Physical Oceanography Department at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.
(WHOI) in Massachusetts, said in a statement that a natural explanation is essentially impossible for what is being studied here: changes in the structure of the atmosphere’s temperature. This study disproves the myth that climate change is purely natural and doesn’t require serious consideration.
According to Yale Environment 360, there was a 1.7 C cooling in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere between 2002 and 2019. The upper atmosphere might cool by 7.5 C if carbon dioxide concentrations double as predicted later this century.
Furthermore, a 2022 research discovered that these same areas had shrunk by 1,333 meters (or 4,373 feet) between 2002 and 2019, with 342 meters (1,122 feet) of that shrinkage being due to rising carbon dioxide levels. The stratosphere has shrunk as well; according to one study, by the year 2080, the stratosphere will have shrunk by 1.3 kilometers (0.81 miles).
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These modifications may enable space debris to stay in the atmosphere for an extended period of time and may impede the ozone layer’s recovery, which was previously anticipated to occur by 2040. They might also bring more frequent, abrupt, and dramatic weather changes closer to the surface of the Earth.
These findings deeply concern me as someone who attempts to comprehend the kind of world that the next generations will live in. Santer stated that there is no satisfaction in realizing that we are fundamentally altering the thermal structure of the Earth’s atmosphere.
The world and the United States must now make crucial decisions over what to do about climate change, Santer continued. I sincerely hope that those choices are supported by the most up-to-date scientific knowledge about the existence and gravity of anthropogenic climate change.
