Noctilucent clouds
© Martin Koitmäe/WikimediaNoctilucent clouds over Kuresoo bog, Soomaa National Park, Estonia.
Just after summer sunsets in northern latitudes, shimmering, wispy clouds appear in the twilight sky. This year, these noctilucent clouds have appeared earlier and farther south than ever before.

Noctilucent clouds exist higher in Earth's atmosphere than any other cloud type. First observed in 1885 following the eruption of Krakatoa, they were a sight reserved for Earth's northernmost residents. In recent years, however, their intensity and frequency have increased, often at latitudes previously thought to be too far south for noctilucent clouds to form.

In 2009, scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research pointed to the southern creep of noctilucent clouds as an early warning signal for climate change high in the atmosphere. Now, new data from NASA's cloud-observing AIM satellite supports this possibility.

James Russell, principal investigator for AIM, says increasing methane emissions could be amping up the cloud show. "When methane makes its way into the upper atmosphere, it is oxidized by a complex series of reactions to form water vapor," Russell said. "This extra water vapor is then available to grow ice crystals for [noctilucent clouds]."

Read the rest of the story at Wired.com.