THERE’S A NEW WATER CYCLE ON MARS
When it’s summer on Mars’ southern hemisphere (happening every 2 Earth years), water vapor rises effectively into the planet’s upper atmosphere. The winds carry the gas to Mars’ north pole. Some of it escape into the surrounding space, and others decay. The remainder sinks back to areas close to the poles. Researchers from Germany and Moscow call this a strange Martian water cycle.
Their simulations depict how the water vapor surpasses the cold air barrier in the planet’s middle atmosphere and drifts to more elevated layers of the atmosphere. This could very well have caused the major loss of water in the planet.
Mars used to be a planet with an ocean and rivers. There were only minute amounts of water in the ground and traces of water in the atmosphere. The planet lost about 80% of its water.
The atmosphere of Mars is more pervious to water vapor than it is in Earth’s. The seasonal water cycle of Mars contributes greatly to the continuing water loss of the planet.
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