How Long Do Contrails Last? (Text only)

An airplane flies through a layer of saturated air.

Contrails consist of 71% CO₂, 28% water, and less than 1% CO, HC, NO_x, SO_x.

Contrails persist for hours to days.

CO, HC, NO_x, SO_x, ultrafine particles: less than 1% interact with water droplets, slowing the melting properties.