A new study contends airplanes leave behind water vapor skywriting that yields frightening messages about the effects flights have on the environment.

Wired reports on a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change which finds that cloud-like contrails in the atmosphere could potentially cause more climate change than carbon emissions emitted by the aircraft. The water vapor clouds formed by planes in high altitudes cause an insulating effect that can make surface temperatures rise. Researchers created a simulation that found airplane-caused hotspots over the United States and Europe.

Contrails Worse for Climate Change Than Planes’ Carbon Emissions [Wired]

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