Scientists study climate change on Mars

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif., April 5 (UPI) -- NASA scientists have found variations in the radiation reflected from the surface of Mars are contributing to climate change on that planet.

Lori Fenton of the Carl Sagan Center, located at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., said the radiation variations produce increased dust transport and wind circulation, possibly causing that planet to be warming by approximately 0.65 degrees Celsius each year. That, theorize the scientists, might have in part caused the recent retreat of Mars' southern polar ice cap.

Fenton and her colleagues used predictions from a Mars global circulation model that show large swaths of the surface have darkened during the past three decades as they were swept free of dust, leading to elevated air temperatures and increased wind stresses. The authors said that that, along with other climate-influencing processes on Mars, should be considered as an important component in future atmospheric and climate studies of the planet.

The study is published in the current issue of the journal Nature.