Warming Troposphere

The troposphere is the lowest portion of Earth’s atmosphere. It contains approximately 75% of the atmosphere's mass and 99% of its water vapor and aerosols.

The word troposphere derives from the Greek:  tropos for "turning" or "mixing," reflecting the fact that turbulent mixing plays an important role in the troposphere's structure and behavior. Most of the phenomena we associate with day-to-day weather occur in the troposphere (source: Wikipedia).

On November 15th, reports from US and British meteorologists, according to Reuters, state that - Not only is Earth's surface warming, but the troposphere -- the lowest level of the atmosphere, where weather occurs -- is heating up too.

In a review of four decades of data on troposphere temperatures, the scientists found that warming in this key atmospheric layer was occurring, just as many researchers expected it would as more greenhouse gases built up and trapped heat close to the Earth.

This study aims to put to rest a controversy that began 20 years ago, when a 1990 scientific report based on satellite observations raised questions about whether the troposphere was warming, even as Earth's surface temperatures climbed. It was found that the model results and atmospheric data sets, found no fundamental discrepancy between what was predicted and what is happening in the troposphere. It is warming, the study found.

This controversy led different views from different organizations. International climate change talks are set to start on Nov. 29 in Cancun, Mexico, but prospects for a global deal to curb greenhouse emissions are considered slim (source: Reuters).

Now, whether this leads to another study to take effect regarding global warming, that is another issue that the committees on global warming all over the world will be dealing with in the future.

Right now, all we know is that somewhere out there, climate is dramatically changing and that we should find alternative ways to sustain and preserve everything we have.