When a satellite finishes its job, it is sent into the stratosphere, where it burns up and disintegrates. This has been crucial because space junk can collide with future satellites and turn them into more space junk that will create a domino effect. Recently it has become apparent that this solution is seeding the atmosphere with tiny particles, this may not have been important but now we have over 10 thousand, and upon entry, they fill the atmosphere with things like aluminum copper, and lithium. This is going to change the stratosphere’s chemistry and will cause unpredictable things. The only solution we currently have to this problem is making our satellites out of wood, which doesn’t release harmful particles, this solution is being worked on by companies such as SpaceX. All in all, this issue has many possible solutions and will be important in determining whether we can continue to use these machines at todays’s rates.
RELATED STORIES
https://www.science.org/content/article/burned-satellites-are-polluting-atmosphere
https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/12/09/1108076/satellite-reentry-atmospheric-pollution/
ACT NOW
https://www.sierraclub.org/policy/stratospheric-ozone-protection
