Suggested Citation: "1 Overview." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Developing a Research Agenda on Contrails and Their Climate Impacts. Washington, DC: The National ...

Contrails in the blue sky remind us of daily air traffic—and its impact on the climate. However, the effect of contrails on the climate is still only partially understood. It is assumed that they have ...

Some contrails can contribute to global warming. Contrails—pure ice clouds (“cirrus”) that form from aircraft exhaust under specific cold conditions—can trap heat in the atmosphere, sometimes creating ...

Aviation's climate impact is partly due to contrails—condensation that a plane streaks across the sky when it flies through icy and humid layers of the atmosphere. Contrails trap heat that radiates ...

Contrails are clouds made of ice particles, which can be created when airplanes fly through cold, humid air. Persistent contrails are estimated to have a warming climate impact. Flight tests will ...

Contrails form when hot exhaust gas from an aircraft’s engine mixes with the cold air at an altitude of about 10 kilometres. In dry air, most contrails dissipate quickly. In cold, humid air, however, ...

A new study allays fears that rerouting flights to avoid forming climate-warming contrails could result in inadvertently making climate warming worse. A new study allays fears that rerouting flights ...

Ever wondered about those white streaks trailing planes across the sky? Experts explain how these contrails form and what ...

Contrails are created when airplanes fly in cold and humid atmospheric conditions and ice crystals form around the particles ...

Four research figures show how contrails appear in two satellite views (left) and two photographs taken from the MIT Green Building. Aviation’s climate impact is partly due to contrails — condensation ...