Saturday, November 13, 2021 – 18:13 WIB
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VIVA – According to combined data from three satellites belonging to the United States Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA, mesosphere Earth cooling and shrinking at a rate of about 500 to 650 feet per year for the last 30 years.
The mesosphere stretches from 30 to 50 miles above the Earth’s surface and is much thinner than the atmosphere. Scientists have linked this worrying phenomenon to the effects of climate change.
“Near the Earth’s surface the atmosphere is thick. Carbon dioxide (CO2) traps heat like a blanket that traps your body heat and keeps you warm,” researcher James Russell, was quoted as saying. VIVA Tekno from site Express, Saturday, November 13, 2021.
This finding is worrying because it shows that more heat from the surface goes to the upper atmosphere. Any heat captured by the CO2 molecules is lost to space causing the air to cool and contract.
Increased CO2 is very efficient at absorbing heat, which means more heat is lost to space. NASA likened the effect to a balloon that shrinks when placed in a freezer. This isn’t the only worrying atmospheric discovery scientists have made.
According to a new report published in the journal Science Advances, the lower part of the planet’s atmosphere has been increasing by 200 feet (60 meters) per year in the last 20 years. Researchers at the University of Toronto, Canada have made a discovery in the troposphere, which is the lowest layer of Earth’s protective air bubble.
The troposphere is a key element for sustaining life on Earth because it houses the oxygen humans breathe and about 85 percent of the mass of the atmosphere as a whole.
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