Earth’s second-highest layer in the atmosphere – the stratosphere, has contracted in the past 4 decades due to surging carbon dioxide emissions, a new study published in the Environmental Research Letters suggests.
The new study observed that the stratosphere has shrunk by more than 400 feet every 10 years since the 1980s. “This proves we are messing with the atmosphere up to 60 kilometers,” Juan Antonio Añel, co-author of the study, told The Guardian. The results show the effect of human activities on the planet.
Carbon emission is thinning stratosphere
Scientists already know that global warming has expanded the troposphere, the layer below the stratosphere. But the new findings suggest that carbon emissions that happen due to industrialization have exactly the opposite reaction on the stratosphere. It shrinks the layer and drops its temperatures.
It was previously suspected by scientists that the stratosphere might be shrinking, but they lacked evidence to prove it. Moreover, the depletion of the ozone layer was believed to be the cause of the shrinkage. But the latest study shows the effects of greenhouse emissions making it worse. In the last 20 years, the warming effect of greenhouse gases has surged by 45 percent. The researchers have also warned that the stratosphere can shrink more than 3,200 feet in the next 60 years.
Ozone is recovering but stratosphere isn’t
The ozone layer is said to be recovering after several efforts being taken to control its depletion, but that doesn’t solve the thinning of the stratosphere. “This finding is significant because it means the shrinking effect will continue long after the ozone layer recovers,” Paul Williams of the University of Reading in the U.K., told The Times.
Another team of researchers also found that in the last 25 years, Earth’s north and south poles have drifted about 13 feet. The study claims that the Earth’s axis started shifting drastically in 1995, speeding the polar drift. Melting glaciers are said to be the main reason behind the shift.
While the shift might visible in our daily lives, it could slightly increase the length of the days on Earth. Currently, it takes 24 hours for a rotation; however, the axis shift can add milliseconds to the revolution.
