I will convolute this conversation further by stating that contrails (like all other clouds consisting of ice crystals) warm up the planet by letting shortwave radiation from the Sun through while being more reflective in longer infrared wavelenghts, thus trapping outgoing longwave radiation. Contrails themselves are also warming the planet up. It’s a small contribution in the grand scheme, but far from a trivial one.
It’s a small contribution in the grand scheme, but far from a trivial one.
Pretty sure it’s extremely trivial compared to the exhaust gasses. Edit: I’m wrong!
This could’ve been a quick web search on your part, but here you go:
https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate1068
Nevertheless, net radiative forcing due to contrail cirrus remains the largest single radiative-forcing component associated with aviation.
