National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Airplane Contrails Boost Global Warming, Study Suggests


Email to a Friend	<< Back to Full Story

Airplane vapor trails, or contrails, appear in the sky in an undated photograph.

Some scientists believe that contrails contribute to the greenhouse effect by trapping heat in Earth's atmosphere. A new study suggests that the effect may be lessened if airlines schedule fewer nighttime flights.

Photograph courtesy U.S. National Weather Service