Climate change may exacerbate space debris, and this is what affects us | life

Space debris will end up being a problem due to climate change and a danger to humanity.

The climate change It is a problem that humans will have to face in a serious and effective manner during the coming decades with the risk of complicating their existence, and that is that emissions of greenhouse gases, the increase in pollution and the temperatureIt affects the environment as well as our health.

While measures are being taken to mitigate climate changeIt is increasingly difficult to stop, which is why human health is at stake, due to the increase in temperature and the pollutionamong other things.

And now according to study Recently, Climate change reduces Earth’s ability to self-clean its upper atmospherewhich makes objects in close orbit, such as satellites, less drag and stay in orbit longer.

The upper atmosphere’s self-cleaning ability increases carbon dioxide, which means dangerous and polluting space debris can stay in orbit longer.

“Space debris has become a rapidly growing problem for satellite operators due to collision risks“, pointing to It’s a statement Ingrid Knusena researcher with the British Antarctic Survey and author of the study.

So the weather has changed

The study, published in Geophysical Research Letters, drew on research models of the atmosphere to examine how the upper atmosphere has changed in the past 50 years and what might change in the next 50.

“The changes we have seen between the climate in the upper atmosphere over the past 50 years and our projections for the next 50 years are the result of emissions from carbon dioxidesays the study.

Which is that, as carbon dioxide molecules absorb heat from the upper atmosphere, they contract and cool, in an effect that will eventually generate a smoother and longer orbit for satellites as well as debris from old and lost spacecraft.

This would have a consequence New satellites will find it more difficult to operate in what could become a spinning junkyardwhere humans on Earth could face life-threatening consequences such as large pieces of space junk falling on populated places.