Wait a second, can you repeat that?...Did you say the atmosphere almost collapsed?

NASA-funded researchers are monitoring a big event in our planet's atmosphere. High above Earth's surface where the atmosphere meets space, a rarefied layer of gas called "the thermosphere" recently collapsed and now is rebounding again. One possible explanation is carbon dioxide (CO₂). When carbon dioxide gets into the thermosphere, it acts as a coolant, shedding heat via infrared radiation. It is widely-known that CO2 levels have been increasing in Earth's atmosphere. Extra CO2 in the thermosphere could have magnified the cooling action of solar minimum (Lately, solar activity has been very low. In 2008 and 2009, the sun plunged into a century-class solar minimum).