Mars may have sheltered ice clouds

A new study of her Proofer The presence of ice clouds once allowed rivers and lakes to form Mars. This is a simulation led by Edwin Kate, a planetary scientist from the University of Chicago, that explains the climate conditions of this planet. So far, the apparent mismatch between its desert climate and soil conditions has puzzled scientists.

Upon arrival, the probe Determination NASA landed near a former river delta. The data collected allowed for the 3D modeling of Mars. The researchers concluded that the greenhouse effect observed on the red planet originates from a thin layer of ice blocked in the atmosphere. This is one of the strongest theories to date on the subject.

Clouds can warm the planet. It produces the same greenhouse effect as it does with carbon dioxide. So despite the fact that much of the Martian soil is covered with ice, the air on Earth remains dry at the poles and over the mountains.

Ice clouds tend to warm planets

According to other researchers, Mars It would have received about a third of the sunlight that the Earth receives when rivers were still flowing there. However, colliding with a massive asteroid would release a lot of kinetic energy and warm the planet.

Other calculations showed that the impact of the collision only lasted for a year or two, but that the warming would have continued for hundreds of years. This would have dried up rivers and lakes.

“The evidence and our ability to explain it in terms of physics and chemistry is a bit inconsistent, but this hypothesis will go a long way to fill this gap.”

Edwin Kate

A study sheds light on climate stability

In the kite model, the water evaporates into the atmosphere and remains there, forming clouds at high altitudes. This would explain the fact that the surface of Mars was gradually running out of water.

The rover sent to Mars will reconstruct yesterday’s atmospheric pressure by analyzing rocks and soil. This assignment should make it possible to learn more about the issue.

“Mars is the only planet that we know can host life. We want to know how to stabilize the climate of a planet or how to lose it. Such a study will make it possible to find other habitable worlds.”