CO2 Emissions Impact: Greenhouse Effect & Space Debris Concerns

[BobG]

http://www.nrl.navy.mil/Review05/images/05Space(Picone).pdf

Greenhouse Effect Could Cause a Space Problem

Always focusing on the negative.

Actually, the positive benefit (have to reboost the satellite less often) is limited to only a few satellites, while the increasing amount of space debris orbiting the Earth is starting to concern quite a few satellite operators. Even with more operators taking actions to decrease the amount of debris left orbiting in space, the projections reach some scary levels in the future. Decreasing the decay rates for debris (including old satellites after they die) isn't a help.

 

[Skyhunter]

The cooling of the thermosphere is probably the strongest evidence there is for the increased greenhouse effect of CO₂. The layers of the stratosphere are actually losing altitude.

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2006/11/the-sky-is-falling/

A timely perspective article in Science this week addresses the issues of upper atmosphere change. 'Upper' atmosphere here is the stratosphere up to the ionosphere (~20 to 300 km). Laštovička et al point out that cooling trends are exactly as predicted by increasing greenhouse gas trends, and that the increase in density that this implies is causing various ionspheric layers to 'fall'.