Jetting Their Way to a Better Understanding of Global Warming - Scientific American- global warming news

BOULDER—Scientists have taken the first crack at solving a fundamental climate mystery, criss-crossing the globe in a souped-up corporate jet to determine where and when greenhouse gases enter and leave the atmosphere. An understanding of how these climate-warming gases move about the globe is a critical prerequisite for any policy aimed at curbing global warming , scientists said Thursday, and information gained over the next three years will play a crucial role in sharpening future predictions and improving their accuracy. Using a high performance jet, scientists will take a series of "slices" of the atmosphere over the next few years from pole to pole and from the surface to the atmosphere's upper reaches. When all the measurements are assembled, scientists added, they will for the first time have a picture of the atmosphere—and a global snapshot showing where and when some of the estimated 30 billion tons of carbon emitted annually by cars, factories, deforestation and other human activities enters the atmosphere.

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