Satellite burn-up from reentering spacecraft is decreasing the amount of sunlight reaching Earth’s surface by adding pollution to the atmosphere. Researchers warn that continued growth of the space industry could make this effect large enough to influence climate. Geoengineering methods such as reflecting particles in clouds are controversial because they could either reduce warming or backfire with unintended consequences. Space launches have accelerated rapidly, with megaconstellations driving much of the increase. Satellites in these networks are designed to deorbit after a few years and burn up, requiring frequent replenishment. The resulting atmospheric pollution is described as an unregulated, small-scale experiment with serious environmental risks.
"“The space industry pollution is like a small-scale, unregulated geoengineering experiment that could have many unintended and serious environmental consequences,” she warned in a statement about the work."
"Researchers warn that the air pollution caused by satellites burning up in the Earth's atmosphere is already decreasing the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface. And if the space industry continues growing at its current pace, the impact could eventually become significant enough to alter the entire climate."
"Space launches have accelerated in the past decade and have tripled in the past five years, spearheaded by companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX. A good chunk of the launches are to bring satellites into the Earth's orbit. SpaceX's Starlink internet service boasts nearly 12,000 of them (and Musk wants to launch a million more). These huge networks are referred to as megaconstellations, signaling a new paradigm in how satellites are used and deployed."
"These satellites are expendable. They're designed to deorbit after a few years and then burn up - harmlessly, we're told - in the Earth's atmosphere, and constantly need to be replenished. But s"
Read at Futurism
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]