Astronomy and the climate crisis

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Astronomy and the climate crisis: Scientists make some connections
Chelsea Gohd, Space | 11 August 2020

Climate change affects astronomy, and vice versa.

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In a new study, astronomers investigated the relationship between astronomy and climate change. (Image: © NASA)

As astronomers look out to the universe, they use planet Earth as an important reference point. This has created a growing relationship between astronomy and the evolving study of climate change, which an international team of scientists explores in three new studies.

Over the years, scientists have found an incredible variety of planets out in the cosmos, but none quite like Earth. But by studying far-off exoplanets, researchers can better understand our own planet (and vice versa.) So it's no surprise that astronomers are heavily involved in studying Earth's climate crisis. In these new studies, researchers examine how climate change is affecting astronomy and how the field is connected to the mounting global crisis.

"As astronomers, we are immeasurably lucky to work in a fascinating field. With our unique perspective on the universe, it is our responsibility to communicate, inside and outside our community, about the disastrous consequences of anthropogenic climate change on our planet and our society," Faustine Cantalloube, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) and lead author of one of the new studies, said in a statement.

For the new research, an international team of astronomers banded together to examine how climate change and astronomy interact — specifically, to see how astronomical observations are affected by climate change and how astronomy as a field contributes to the growing climate crisis.

Venus: Lessons from a Climate Catastrophe:

https://videos.space.com/m/van6h0WA/venus-lessons-from-a-climate-catastrophe?list=9wzCTV4g