{"id":353247,"date":"2026-03-29T05:38:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T05:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/353247\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T05:38:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T05:38:17","slug":"scientists-say-mars-lost-water-during-a-season-they-once-thought-was-mostly-quiet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/353247\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists Say Mars Lost Water During a Season They Once Thought Was Mostly Quiet"},"content":{"rendered":"

A localized Martian dust storm has revealed a mechanism scientists had largely overlooked. Instead of rare global events, smaller storms may be pushing water into space far more often than expected. Mars still bears the scars of its wetter past. Ancient channels and water-altered minerals point to a time when liquid water was stable at the surface, raising enduring questions about where it all went. <\/p>\n

Until now, most explanations focused on large-scale atmospheric events and seasonal patterns, particularly in the southern hemisphere. New observations suggest that the planet\u2019s climate history may also depend on shorter, more localized phenomena that had gone under the radar.<\/p>\n

A Storm That Reaches Far Beyond One Region<\/p>\n

The findings, published in Communications: Earth & Environment<\/a>, center on a dust storm recorded during Martian Year 37 (2022\u20132023). The team led by Adri\u00e1n Brines <\/a>and Shohei Aoki<\/a> stated that the storm was not planet-wide, yet it had a striking effect on the atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Water vapor <\/a>was lifted into the middle atmosphere at levels up to ten times higher than usual. According to the study, such concentrations had not been observed in previous years and were not predicted by existing climate models.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe findings reveal the impact of this type of storm on the planet\u2019s climate evolution and opens a new path for understanding how Mars lost much of its water over time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Earlier research had emphasized global dust storms <\/a>as the main drivers of vertical transport. This event shows that smaller storms can also inject significant amounts of water into higher atmospheric layers.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe vertical spread of water vapor across Mars changes with season and latitude. Credit: Communications: Earth & Environment<\/p>\n

An Unexpected Seasonal Window<\/p>\n

The timing of the storm adds another layer of surprise. Scientists had long linked water loss to the Southern Hemisphere summer, when solar heating is more intense.<\/p>\n

What makes the event especially notable is that it happened during the Northern Hemisphere summer, a time not usually associated with strong atmospheric escape. The researchers said this result puts established seasonal assumptions under pressure.<\/p>\n

The observed increase in atmospheric water during this season suggests that the mechanisms driving escape may operate under a wider range of conditions than previously thought.<\/p>\n

\"UvUV and visible-light images reveal the MY 37 aphelion local dust storm. Credit: Communications: Earth & Environment<\/p>\n

Tracking Hydrogen To Measure Escape<\/p>\n

Following the rise in water vapor, instruments detected a notable increase in hydrogen at the exobase, where the atmosphere transitions into space. The team found that hydrogen levels were about 2.5 times higher than those recorded during the same season in earlier years. That matters because hydrogen is a crucial marker of water loss: when water molecules split apart, hydrogen escapes more readily.<\/p>\n

The study draws on data from multiple missions, including the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter<\/a>, NASA\u2019s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter<\/a>, and the Emirates Mars Mission<\/a>. The authors explained that putting these observations together allowed them to associate the increase in water vapor with a later rise in hydrogen escaping into space.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese results add a vital new piece to the incomplete puzzle of how Mars has been losing its water over billions of years, and shows that short but intense episodes can play a relevant role in the climate evolution of the Red Planet,\u201d explained Aoki.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"DiagramDiagram comparing regular Martian atmospheric conditions with localized dust storm conditions. Credit: Communications: Earth & Environment<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A localized Martian dust storm has revealed a mechanism scientists had largely overlooked. Instead of rare global events,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[111,139,69,147,392],"class_list":["post-353247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}