Climate change altering atmospheric structure claims study
Climate change is having an impact on the atmospheric structure as well as per results of a new study. An international research team led by scientists from Nanjing University in China has found that the tropopause is pushing the boundary of the stratosphere by about 50-60 meters (about 165-195 feet) per decade. Due to the rising temperature near the surface of the earth, the lower atmosphere is expanding. Bill Randall, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and co-author of this research, said, “This is a clear indication of a change in atmospheric composition. It proves that greenhouse gases are altering our atmosphere.”
The distance from the Earth’s surface to the tropopause that separates the troposphere from the stratosphere in the atmosphere is 5 miles at the poles and 10 miles from the equator, depending on the season. The tropopause is generally important for commercial pilots, as they fly over the lower stratosphere to avoid turbulence. The continuous increase in the height of the tropopause did not have a significant effect on society or ecosystem, but it is definitely evidence of how deep the effect of greenhouse gas is going.
It was also revealed in the previous research of scientists that the height of the tropopause is increasing from the earth. This happened not only because of climate change but also because of the cooling of the stratosphere due to ozone depletion. Randall and his other co-authors used new data to determine how high the tropopause is rising above Earth, because it is no longer being affected by stratospheric temperature.
