A drop of water falls off an irrigation system at a research center of Netafim where the company develops more efficient methods to water crops, in Kibbutz Magal, Israel November 30, 2020. Picture taken November 30, 2020. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Climate changes caused by the ever-growing threat of global warming have prompted many scientists to explore planets outside the solar system that could support life and where humans could potentially live.

Now, an Israeli-led research team has developed a computerized system to study the atmospheres of distant planets in order to determine their suitability for human habitation without the need to visit them physically.

The study led by Assaf Hochman of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Fredy & Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences focused on the climate variability of earth-like exo-planets. The researchers investigated the effect an increase in carbon dioxide has on extreme weather conditions, and on the rate of changes in weather.

“These two variables are crucial for the existence of life on other planets, and they are now being studied in depth for the first time in history,” explained Hochman.

The joint study published in the Astrophysical Journal was conducted in collaboration with researchers at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and at the University of Maryland.

“The atmospheres of rocky exoplanets are close to being characterized by astronomical observations, in part due to the commissioning of the James Webb Space Telescope,” the researchers wrote in the study. “These observations compel us to understand exoplanetary atmospheres, in the voyage to find habitable planets.”

For the purpose of the current study, researchers examined TRAPPIST-1e, a planet located some 40 light years from the Earth and scheduled to be documented by the James Webb Space Telescope in the coming year. Running computer models, the researchers tested the sensitivity of the planet’s climate to increases in greenhouse gases and compared it with conditions on Earth. Using a computerized simulation of the climate on TRAPPIST-1e, they could assess the impact of changes in greenhouse gas concentration, they said.

“The research framework we developed, along with observational data from the Webb Space Telescope, will enable scientists to efficiently assess the atmospheres of many other planets without having to send a space crew to visit them physically,” said Hochman. “This will help us make informed decisions in the future about which planets are good candidates for human settlement and perhaps even to find life on those planets.”

The findings of the research conducted by Hochman and his partners showed that planet TRAPPIST-1e has a significantly more sensitive atmosphere than planet Earth. In the study, the researchers concluded that an increase in greenhouse gases on TRAPPIST-1e could lead to more extreme climate changes than would be experienced on Earth because one side of the planet constantly faces its own sun, in the same way, that the moon always has one side facing the Earth.

“Studying the climate variability of earth-like exo-planets provides a better understanding of the climate changes we are currently experiencing on Earth,” according to the study. “Additionally, this kind of research offers a new understanding of how planet Earth’s atmosphere might change in the future.”