Stratospheric!

The stratosphere (20-60k above the Earth's surface) is that area of the atmosphere, immediately above the troposphere, in which we live. Changes in the thickness of the stratosphere impacts on the operation of satellites, GPS, navigation and radio. A paper in Environmental Research Letters reveals that, since the 1980s, the Earth's stratosphere has shrunk by 400 metres (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/12/emissions-shrinking-the-stratosphere-scientists-find). This thinning of the stratosphere, is a consequence of human-mediated carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon dioxide, entering the troposphere, warms and expands that zone. The same gas, eventually reaching the stratosphere, cools and contracts it. The stratosphere is consequently pushed from below whilst contracting above. The scientists carrying out this study estimate that, without a major reduction in 'greenhouse gas' emissions, the Earth's stratosphere will thin a further kilometre by 2080. Who described humans as 'puny' animals?