Timothy Birdnow

I've long argued micrometeor bombardment of the Earth's atmosphere probably played an unknown role in planetary climate and it seems I was right all along:

sweetie Market

April 10 at 1:15 PM

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Scientists just confirmed the existence of a previously unknown atmospheric layer sitting at 70 to 90 kilometers altitude that plays a critical role in regulating Earth's surface temperature — a discovery that reveals current climate models have been missing an entire regulatory mechanism from their calculations.

Researchers at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts identified the layer using data from 14 years of satellite measurements from the MIPAS instrument on ESA's Envisat satellite, combined with reanalysis from weather balloon networks at 127 stations worldwide. The layer, located in the mesosphere between 70 and 90 kilometers altitude, shows distinct chemical and thermal properties consistent with a boundary layer controlling heat exchange between the upper and lower atmosphere. Most significantly, the layer's thickness and thermal properties vary seasonally in patterns that correlate with surface temperature anomalies 6 to 8 weeks later, suggesting it acts as a delayed regulator buffering surface temperature changes.

The layer consists of a chemically distinct zone where sodium and potassium metal atoms — deposited by meteors entering the atmosphere — catalyze reactions that convert ozone at a rate previously unaccounted for in atmospheric chemistry models. The resulting thermal effect adds a previously absent negative feedback mechanism to climate calculations that slightly moderates warming trends compared to current model projections.

Climate models will require revision to incorporate the layer's regulatory effect, and the discovery opens new research into how the mesosphere interacts with tropospheric weather and climate across timescales from weeks to decades.

Source: European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, European Space Agency, Nature Geoscience, 2025

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