Contrails in the Iowa Sky

Pictures of contrails outside over Eddyville Iowa.  Aircraft emissions, containing carbon dioxide, produce a stream-like cloud that just like other clouds trap heat radiating from Earth.  This is an example of how human activity is affecting the atmosphere and other Earth systems.

• What Earth systems are affected or modified by modes of human transportation?

• How are contrails produced and how do they affect Earth’s systems?
• What chemicals are in aircraft emissions? 

Students could:

• Develop a model representing how Earth’s systems are affected by human transportation. 
• Design a travel plan using computational thinking that reduces the impact of contrails.  
• Develop a systems model with feedback loops predicting future effects of mitigated and unmitigated contrail effects.

• Yale Environment 360 | How Airplane Contrails Are Helping Make the Planet Warmer Article about how contrails affect climate change. 
• California Academy of Sciences | Planes, Trains, or Bicycles: Being a Low-impact Traveler: Lesson plan about different modes of transportation and their carbon footprint.
• PBS NOVA | The Contrail Effect: Are Vapor Trails From Aircraft Influencing the Climate?: Article discussing the contrail effect.
• NASA | Contrails: In this Contrails lesson, an artificial cloud is produced inside a 500 ml flask by using water vapor, smoke as the condensing nucleus, and changes in pressure. The cloud production is similar to how contrails form behind a jet engine