Environment

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Environmental and ecological discussion, particularly of things like weather and other natural phenomena (especially if they're not breaking news).

See also our Nature and Gardening community for discussion centered around things like hiking, animals in their natural habitat, and gardening (urban or rural).

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Dead satellites are filling space with trash. That could affect Earth’s magnetic field | Sierra Solter [Guardian, opinion] (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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cross-posted from: https://sopuli.xyz/post/11636550

Opinion piece by Sierra Solter, "a plasma physicist, engineer, and inventor who studies the intersection of heliophysics and aerospace". Relevant quote:

Upon investigating just how much dust in the form of satellite and rocket debris the space industry has dumped into the ionosphere during re-entry, I was alarmed to find that it is currently multiple Eiffel Tower’s worth of metallic ash. I wouldn’t have even been able to calculate that at all without a scientist’s personally run website. Our ozone is mere pennies thick, and soon we will be putting at least an Eiffel Tower’s worth of metallic ash a year directly into the ionosphere. And all of that will stay there, indefinitely.

How could we possibly think that burning trash in our atmosphere 24/7 is going to be fine?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

Good to know. We’ll get right on it. Just like we did with climate change when scientists noted an increase in carbon dioxide could be contributing to a warmer global temperature 90 years ago.