Atmosphere

Scientists have discovered a new form of space weather – superfast electron rains that precipitate into the atmosphere from the radiation belts. The rains could affect satellites, spacecraft and astronauts, but aren’t accounted for in current models.

The ozone layer is often seen as a success story for human action to correct a climate emergency – but unfortunately we may be undoing our own hard work. A new study suggests smoke from wildfires can deplete the ozone layer, delaying its recovery.

A research team has begun an €11-million (US$12.9-million) project with the hopes of collecting the oldest continuous ice core in Antarctica, providing a record of the climate spanning some 1.5 million years.

A new study has revealed yet another way that human-induced climate change is affecting the planet. Decades of weather balloon and satellite data has shown that the Earth’s troposphere is expanding, even after natural variations are accounted for.

Astronomers have counted the number of neutrons inside carbon atoms from 2.8 quadrillion km away. The team managed to measure the ratios of carbon isotopes in the atmosphere of an exoplanet for the first time, which can tell us about how it formed.

Scientists have mapped ‘atmospheric rivers’ in Earth’s atmosphere that are responsible for transporting huge quantities of potentially dangerous aerosols around the planet, which eventually descend and impact air quality.

High-altitude icy clouds may have allowed ancient Mars to host rivers and lakes by warming the planet via a greenhouse effect, according to a new study. The theory could be tested by NASA’s Perseverance rover, which is currently exploring the planet.

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot may be stealing energy from the smaller storms that careen into it on a regular basis. These dramatic interactions had previously seemed to be damaging the iconic atmospheric feature, but may instead be helping it survive.

A growing body of evidence points to the Red Planet being much bluer in its ancient past. Where all that water went is a key question, with many scientists believing it escaped into space. New analysis suggests another answer: it retreated underground.

Scientists have found evidence of a “space hurricane” for the first time. The storm, made up of swirling clouds of plasma, raged in Earth’s upper atmosphere for hours, dumping huge amounts of electrons like rain in a system that resembles a regular hurricane.

A new study has found that in about a billion years’ time, Earth will rapidly lose most of its atmospheric oxygen, returning to how it was billions of years ago. This may have important implications in the search for life on other planets.

Scientists have condensed decades of footage taken of our Sun’s atmosphere into a 47-minute video showcasing solar activity on a grand scale. The video was released to mark the 25th anniversary of the NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric observatory.