Greenhouse gas emissions have shrunk Earth's stratosphere by 400m since 1980s: Study

Humankind’s colossal greenhouse gas emission is shrinking the stratosphere, a new study has revealed. Since the 1980s, the 35-kilometre thick atmospheric layer has reduced by 400 meters and will further contract by about another kilometre by 2080 if emissions continue at the present rate, the study said. Published in Environmental Research Letters journal on May 5, it further emphasized that the stratospheric contraction has the potential to affect radio communications, satellite operations as well as GPS navigation.

“It may affect satellite trajectories, orbital lifetimes, and retrievals […] the propagation of radio waves, and eventually the overall performance of the Global Positioning System and other space-based navigational systems,” the researchers said.

The stratosphere, which also contains the Ozone Layer, extends from roughly 20 to 60 kilometres above the earth’s surface. Below it is the troposphere, where human-emitted carbon dioxide heats and expands the air. This pushes up the lower boundary of the Stratosphere. However, when CO2 enters the stratosphere it actually cools the air, causing it to contract.

The growing height of the troposphere was already a scientifically acknowledged fact with scientists hypothesising that the stratosphere was shrinking. However, the recent study is the first to demonstrate the reduction in stratosphere. It also shows that atmosphere’s second layer has been contracting around the globe since at least the 1980s when satellite data was first gathered.

Countries step up to reduce emissions

This comes as the United States, last month, pledged to slash greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. The new target was announced with an aim to inspire other big states to up their battle against increasing global warming. America was leading the battle against climate change until Donald Trump, in 2017, pulled the country out of the Paris Accord claiming that it undermined the country’s economy.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who called the new American goal "game-changing" earlier this week pledged to cut carbon dioxide emission by 78% by 2035 compared with 1990 levels. Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who visited Biden at the White House earlier this month, raised Japan's target for cutting emissions to 46 per cent by 2030, up from 26 per cent. Adding to that, Canadian leader Justin Trudeau also the country's goal to a cut of 40%-45% by 2030 below 2005 levels, up from 30%.

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