Even as temperatures rise on Earth’s surface and in the lower atmosphere, the planet’s upper atmosphere has cooled dramatically. This paradoxical pattern is a well-known sign of humanity’s climate impacts—but until now, the underlying physics has remained a mystery.

In a new study, researchers from Columbia University describe the phenomenon’s mechanics, illuminating how it is largely determined by the way carbon dioxide (CO2) interacts with different wavelengths of light.

For decades, the frozen Antarctic wilderness at the bottom of the world defied global warming trends, with ice levels actually growing – until 2015 when it suddenly reversed. Now scientists say they have discovered why.

The mysterious origin of an impressive cloud disturbance on Venus has now been revealed by a team including the University of Tokyo. Researchers used numerical models to show that an enormous 6,000-kilometer-wide atmospheric wave front, which circumnavigates the planet for days at a time, is caused by a large “hydraulic jump.” This is when a fluid abruptly slows down, changing from shallow and fast to deep and slow. On Venus, a sudden change in airflow in the lower cloud region is coupled with the creation of a strong updraft, forcing sulfuric acid vapor higher into the atmosphere where it condenses into a massive line of cloud. Future planetary studies can consider the potential impacts of this process, and what it might mean for any exploratory missions.