ATLANTA — Delta Air Lines said Thursday it will work with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a study examining the environmental impact of airplane contrails.
The focus of the study is how to eliminate persistent contrails, which make up about 10% of all contrails and create clouds that trap heat and warm the earth, according to Delta.
Contrails form about 65% of the time when planes are at cruise altitude and aircraft exhaust water vapor combines with atmospheric water vapor to form clouds of ice crystals, yet only 10% last longer than a few minutes. Those persistent contrails are believed to be “one of aviation’s largest environmental impacts,” according to Delta.
