(AP) – Climate change is causing problems on Earth, but it’s also affecting our space around the planet, according to new research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The study suggests that global warming, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, could significantly reduce the space available for satellites in low Earth orbit. By the century’s end, this could shrink by 33% to as much as 82%, depending on levels of carbon pollution. The reason? Climate change is increasing the amount of space debris while reducing nature’s ability to clean it up.
As the greenhouse effect warms the air near the Earth’s surface, it cools the upper atmosphere where satellites operate. This cooling makes the upper atmosphere less dense, resulting in reduced drag on space debris—meaning that a lot of junk won’t fall back to Earth and burn up as it normally would.
“We rely on the atmosphere to clean up our debris,” said Will Parker, the study’s lead author and an astrodynamics researcher at MIT. “It’s trash. It’s garbage. And there are millions of pieces of it.”
In orbit, there are millions of bits of debris that are at least one-ninth of an inch (3 millimeters) wide, which collide with the force of a bullet. There are also tens of thousands of larger pieces that impact with the energy of a crashing bus. This junk comes from past satellite collisions and discarded rocket parts, much of which is too small to track accurately.
Currently, there are around 11,905 satellites orbiting Earth, with 7,356 in low Earth orbit. These satellites are vital for communication, navigation, and monitoring weather and security issues.
In the past, people thought space was vast enough to avoid crowded conditions. However, a notable satellite collision in 2009 generated thousands of pieces of debris, highlighting the risk. Now, NASA observations show a measurable decrease in atmospheric drag, emphasizing the crucial link between climate change and orbital debris, Parker added.
The density of the upper atmosphere, around 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth, is decreasing at approximately 2% every decade, and this trend may worsen as more greenhouse gases are emitted. Ingrid Cnossen, a space weather scientist at the British Antarctic Survey, stated that the study makes sense and emphasizes the need to understand how climate change affects our orbital environment for long-term sustainability.
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Climate change,Massachusetts Institute of Technology,Earth,satellites,greenhouse effect,atmosphere,Nature Sustainability
