Climate change may force aeroplane to fly higher
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, but it illustrates the wide-ranging impacts of greenhouse gas emissions. Previous scientific studies have shown that the tropopause is rising. This was not only because of climate change, but also because of cooling in the stratosphere caused by ozone depletion.
The height of the tropopause, an atmospheric region that divides the troposphere from the stratosphere, is increasing due to human-induced warming of lower atmosphere and cooling of stratosphere due to ozone depletion.
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