Earth's thermosphere recently reached a nearly 20-year temperature peak after absorbing energy
According to NASA, the thermosphere extends from the top of the mesosphere at an altitude of about 85 km to the bottom of the exosphere (at an altitude of about 600 km). Beyond the exosphere is outer space.
For more than 21 years, NASA has been measuring temperaturesthermosphere. They analyze infrared radiation emitted by molecules of carbon dioxide and nitric oxide. Scientists convert data collected by NASA's Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) satellite into the Thermospheric Climate Index (TCI), which is measured in terawatts, or TW (1 TW). equals 1 trillion watts.)
The TCI value, which rose sharply on March 10,peaked at 0.24 TW, Martin Mlinczak, lead investigator for the TIMED mission at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia and creator of TCI, told Live Science. The last time TCI was this high was December 28, 2003. The temperature spike data has already been submitted to a scientific journal, but has not yet been peer-reviewed.
Graph showing how TCI value increases andfalls with each solar cycle. Image credit: Marty Mlinczak (NASA Langley Research Center) and Linda Hunt (Science and Technology Corporation)
Geomagnetic storms are becoming more frequent andintense during solar maximum, part of the roughly 11-year solar cycle during which the Sun is most active and covered in dark sunspots and plasma loops spewing out coronal ejections and the solar wind.
As a result, the Earth's thermosphere also followsapproximately 11 year cycle. Scientists from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have predicted that the next solar maximum will occur in 2025. This means the warming trend is likely to continue over the next few years.
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