Climate change may create obstacles in the manner we observe sky: Study

Giant telescopes that focus their lenses at the unending cosmos from the surface of Earth have to be constructed at carefully selected sites. Work of the telescope must not get hindered due to ordinary weather phenomemon like fog, clouds rains etc. Hence, such giant telescopes are installed in remote places, high on mountains or in deserts and so on.

But now even such care taken while choosing the site for the telescopes may not be adequate to ensure that work is not hampered. A study says that climate change may create problems for scientists using these telescopes.

The study was carried out by researchers in University of Bern and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR).

“Even though telescopes usually have a lifetime of several decades, site selection processes only consider the atmospheric conditions over a short timeframe. Usually over the past five years – too short to capture long-term trends, let alone future changes caused by global warming,” explained study lead author Caroline Haslebacher. She has been quoted by Earth.com

“Nowadays, astronomical observatories are designed to work under the current site conditions and only have a few possibilities for adaptation. Potential consequences of the climatic conditions for telescopes therefore include a higher risk of condensation due to an increased dew point or malfunctioning cooling systems, which can lead to more air turbulence in the telescope dome,” she added.

“This is the first time that such a study has been possible. Thanks to the higher resolution of the global climate models developed through the Horizon 2020 PRIMAVERA project, we were able to examine the conditions at various locations of the globe with great fidelity – something that we were unable to do with conventional models. These models are valuable tools for the work we do at the Wyss Academy,” said study co-author Marie-Estelle Demory.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE