United Kingdom, Aug. 18 -- AI will be used to help aircraft avoid forming climate-warming contrails in a new £5 million UK trial involving Google, the government, the Met Office and air traffic control provider NATS.

Operation Blue Skies will run for 30 months across Shanwick Oceanic airspace in the eastern North Atlantic, an area responsible for an estimated five per cent of global contrail warming.

Contrails form when hot aircraft exhaust meets very cold air at high altitude, creating ice crystals.

While many disappear quickly, some persist and spread into thin clouds that can trap heat in the atmosphere.

The climate impact of persistent contrails is uncertain, but research suggests it could be comparable with aviation's carbon...