Transcript:
As people burn fossil fuels, carbon dioxide is building up in the atmosphere – warming the Earth and making it harder to operate satellites in low Earth orbit.
As these satellites travel around, hundreds of miles from Earth’s surface, they dodge millions of pieces of debris.
Parker: “Objects that have been created from explosions, collisions … and even just old defunct satellites and rocket bodies that have been abandoned.”
Will Parker, a Ph.D. candidate at MIT, says much of this space trash eventually falls out of orbit because the atmosphere exerts a drag force that slows objects down.
But rising levels of CO2 are causing the part of the atmosphere where these satellites operate to become less dense, which reduces drag.
So space junk will stay in orbit longer. The atmosphere will get more crowded. And satellites’ risk of collisions will grow.
In a recent study, Parker’s team found that by 2100, the number of satellites that can safely operate across hundreds of miles of low Earth orbit could be reduced by as much as 50% or more.
Parker: “This is concerning because we rely on low Earth orbit for all sorts of things – for communications … for internet, weather forecasting.”
So changes in space will affect everyday life on Earth.
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
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