Hydrogen escape from Mars is driven by seasonal and dust storm transport of water

Abstract

Dust storms cause Mars to lose water Mars was once a wet planet, but it has lost most of its water through reactions that produce hydrogen, which escapes from the upper atmosphere into space. Stone et al. used data from the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft to study how water is transported to the upper atmosphere and converted to hydrogen. They found that water can reach higher altitudes than previously thought, especially during global or regional dust storms. Photochemical modeling shows that this process dominates the current loss of water from Mars and influenced the evolution of its climate. Science , this issue p. 824