Jordan News

The US Space and Aviation Agency, “NASA”, referred to a frightening and catastrophic phenomenon in the Earth’s atmosphere that threatens the existence of our planet.

According to data collected from three NASA satellites, Earth’s atmosphere has shrunk at a rate of about 500 feet to 650 feet per year over the past 30 years.

According to NASA, the mesosphere extends between 30 and 50 miles above the Earth’s surface and is much thinner than the layer of the atmosphere in which we live – the troposphere, and scientists have attributed this worrying phenomenon to the effects of climate change, and unless something is done to reduce global warming emissions on the planet. , it is expected to continue.

“Near the surface of the Earth, the atmosphere is thick, and carbon dioxide traps heat just like a quilt traps body heat and keeps you warm,” said study co-author James Russell and an atmospheric scientist at Hampton University in Virginia.

This finding is concerning because it indicates that more heat from the surface is making its way into the upper parts of the atmosphere.

Once there, any heat captured by carbon dioxide (CO2) molecules into space is lost, causing the air to cool and contract.

An increase in carbon dioxide, which is very efficient at absorbing heat, means more heat is lost to space.

Together, the satellites have provided about 30 years of observations, indicating that the summer atmosphere above Earth’s poles is cooling four to five degrees Fahrenheit and shrinking by 500 to 650 feet per decade. Without changes in human carbon dioxide emissions, the researchers expect these rates to continue. .

According to NASA, scientists have discovered that parts of the upper atmosphere are gradually shrinking in response to rising man-made greenhouse gas emissions.

“We need several decades to get a sense of these trends and what’s happening due to greenhouse gas emissions, changes in the solar cycle, and other impacts,” said Scott Bailey, an atmospheric scientist at Virginia Tech and the study’s lead.

Because clouds are sensitive to temperature and water vapor, they are a useful signal of change in the atmosphere. “We understand the physics of these clouds,” Bailey said. In recent decades, clouds have caught the attention of scientists as they have been shown to be getting brighter and drifting farther from the poles, appearing earlier than usual.