Post #453213

2026-02-26 23:19 UTC

“we estimate that a million satellites could mean that a teragram (one billion kgs) of alumina accumulates in the upper atmosphere – enough, alongside launch emissions, to significantly alter atmospheric chemistry and heating in dramatic ways we do not yet understand. There is no public mandate for a single company in one country to make changes on that scale to the planet’s atmosphere.” https://theconversation.com/a-new-space-race-could-turn-our-atmosphere-into-a-crematorium-for-satellites-276366

Replies (8)

@chebra@mstdn.io 2026-02-27 04:00

@andrewg@mastodon.ie excuse me but one billion kg of alumina from one million satellites can only be possible if one satellite contains 1000kg of alumina. That's clearly not the case

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@taq@thicc.horse 2026-03-09 06:08

boost parent post cw add: climate heating, capitalism

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@oldoldcojote@climatejustice.social 2026-03-09 08:31

@andrewg@mastodon.ie Lets just launch elon. Problem solved.

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@raymaccarthy@mastodon.ie 2026-03-09 09:22

@andrewg@mastodon.ie Elephant in the room: The USA FCC should only be responsible for USA terrestrial spectrum use and answerable to ITU for spectrum where it has an international impact. They have no authority agreed outside USA for space or orbital or transnational travel.

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@patterfloof@meow.social 2026-03-09 12:11

@andrewg@mastodon.ie and we've not got the international cooperation & consensus to deal with it like the ozone hole in the 90s

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@CyclesSmiles@mastodon.social 2026-03-09 12:32

@andrewg@mastodon.ie Musk is really striving to be more evil than Putin, isn't he? #climatechange #atmosphere

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@Brokar@mastodon.social 2026-03-09 13:25

@andrewg@mastodon.ie That's what's currently up there. Now imagine that China, India and Europe want a similar network of satellites like Starlink. Sooner or later there will be more aluminum in space than on Earth and space travel will be made impossible because of all the satellites and debris. Think of the first scene in Wall-E when the camera zooms in on Earth. Not even mentioning astronomers, who can't seem to get a clear picture anymore without having 20 satellites blocking the view.

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@dendroniker@machteburch.social 2026-03-11 07:27

@andrewg@mastodon.ie Wo führt dieses Handeln hin? Where will this action lead? {Deepl}

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