The white trails left by high-flying airplanes may be a pretty sight in a blue sky, but bomber crews dislike them for good reason: an airplane may look from the ground like an almost invisible speck, ...

The challenge of addressing aviation’s non-carbon dioxide emissions is receiving greater attention, with the climatic impact associated with tell-tale signs in the sky coming under increased study.

Four research figures show how contrails appear in two satellite views (left) and two photographs taken from the MIT Green Building. Aviation’s climate impact is partly due to contrails — condensation ...