(AP) – Climate change isn’t just affecting our planet; it’s going to create problems in space too, according to a new study from MIT.
As the Earth heats up from burning fossil fuels, researchers predict that the area available for satellites in low Earth orbit could shrink drastically—by 33% to 82% by the end of this century. This is because climate change makes space debris tougher to manage.
Here’s how it works: the greenhouse gases that warm our atmosphere also cool the upper layers where satellites operate. This cooling reduces air density up there, leading to less drag on millions of pieces of debris. Right now, this drag helps pull space junk down to Earth, where it burns up upon re-entry. But with a cooler atmosphere, that cleanup won’t happen as effectively, causing space to fill up with trash.
Will Parker, the study’s lead author and an astrodynamics expert at MIT, explains, “We rely on the atmosphere to clean up our debris. It’s trash. And there are millions of pieces of it.”
In fact, millions of debris pieces larger than 3 millimeters (about the size of two stacked pennies) are orbiting Earth. These bits collide with the force of a bullet. Even bigger chunks of junk can strike with the impact of a bus crash! Most of this debris comes from old satellite collisions and broken rocket parts that are too small to be tracked but can cause serious damage.
Currently, there are 11,905 satellites in orbit, with over 7,000 in low Earth orbit. These satellites play crucial roles in communication, navigation, weather forecasting, and monitoring both environmental and national security issues.
Parker notes that some used to believe space was vast enough to handle our debris without consequences. However, the 2009 crash of two satellites showed just how crowded it can become. NASA has also observed a measurable drop in atmospheric density, highlighting how critical the effects of climate change are becoming.
As the atmosphere cools, its density at about 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the Earth is declining by roughly 2% per decade. This trend is expected to worsen as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. Ingrid Cnossen, a space weather scientist at the British Antarctic Survey, supports the findings, emphasizing the importance of understanding climate change’s impact on orbit for future sustainability.
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Climate change,Massachusetts Institute of Technology,Earth,satellites,greenhouse effect,atmosphere,Nature Sustainability
