Climate change is having an increasing impact on the structure of the Earth's atmosphere, and may cause planes to fly higher to avoid turbulence, a new international study shows. The research, published in the journal Science Advances, draws on decades of weather balloon observations and specialised satellite measurements to quantify the extent to which the top of the lowest level of the atmosphere called tropopause is rising. The analysis of weather balloon observations alarmingly showed that the tropopause (the upper limit of the troposphere, where commercial flights usually fly) has increased in height at a steady pace since the 1980s-by about 58-59 metres per decade. Of these, 50-53 metres per decade is attributable to human-induced warming of the lower atmosphere. The increasing height of the tropopause in recent decades does not significantly affect society or ecosystems,