Sometimes, looking into the sky at the sound of an airplane flying by, you can notice a long cloudy trail that stretches behind the flying car. This trail is called a condensation trail and consists of fog that appears white against a blue sky.
The trail that a flying plane leaves is called a condensation trail. This name derives from the origin of the trace, which consists of condensed moisture formed when water vapor from engine exhaust enters the atmosphere. Thus, the streak following a point in the sky is nothing more than fog, but what is the reason for this fog? During operation, the engine throws out exhaust gases that are formed during the combustion of fuel. These gases are a combination of water and carbon dioxide. The water is contained in the exhaust as steam and therefore has a high temperature. The temperature of the ambient air at high altitudes is very low, so the water vapor quickly cools down and soon condenses, passing into the fog phase. its relative humidity is minimal, then the trace dissipates very quickly and remains invisible to the eye. If the air humidity is high, then the strip remains for a long time. Moreover, if the air is oversaturated with moisture, then the water condensed from the exhaust gas not only does not disappear, but also increases in volume and eventually becomes part of cirrus clouds. on the climate. Cirrus clouds trap heat on the planet, so their additional contribution to their increase could help accelerate global warming. And if we take into account the pace at which aircraft construction is developing on Earth and how many flights are made daily, one can imagine how great this contribution is. It is possible to avoid a large-scale impact on the climate by obliging pilots to move to lower altitudes or avoid places with high relative humidity, but this will lead to a decrease in flight speed and, accordingly, increase their number, which in turn will lead to an increase in carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. Therefore, the problem of the harmful effect of this atmospheric phenomenon on the climate remains unresolved.
