Airplane Contrails’ Impact on Climate to Triple by 2050

Airplane Contrails’ Impact on Climate to Triple by 2050

London: Researchers have found that contrails - the white lines that airplanes leave behind in the sky - are a major cause of global warming and their impact on the climate was expected to triple by 2050. The study found that due to increased air traffic activity, contrail-induced warming was expected to be thrice larger in 2050 than what it was in 2006. Contrails change global cloudiness which creates an imbalance in the Earth’s radiation budget - called radiative forcing - that results in warming of the planet. The larger this radiative forcing, the more significant the climate impact. Noting that non-carbon dioxide climate impacts could not be neglected, researchers said that the increase was predicted to be faster than the rise in carbon dioxide radiative forcing since expected fuel efficiency measures would reduce carbon dioxide emissions. (IANS)

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