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https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a...-the-earth
EXCERPTS: Satellite megaconstellations (SMCs) have been growing in size at a startling clip the last few years. [...] the main rocket engine that launches SMCs into orbit (Falcon 9) emits hardly any chlorine at all, since it uses kerosene as its main fuel.
But here comes the bad news - kerosene does have another polluting effect - soot. Typically soot produced by ground sources is washed out by rain over a very short period of time. However, when it’s launched into the stratosphere behind a rocket, it can stay there for much longer - up to four years according to the paper.
The effects of all this soot in the stratosphere are complex. There’s some argument to be made that these black particles actually block some of the Sun’s light in the upper atmosphere. This consequently cools the lower atmosphere, but also heats the upper one.
While the first one sounds like a net benefit, given the ongoing trouble we are having in limiting other our climate damaging activities, we understand very little about the impact of heat on the upper atmosphere. According to the paper, SMC launches are responsible for 56% of this “instantaneous warming” coming from launches - and that number is only set to grow... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: Satellite megaconstellations (SMCs) have been growing in size at a startling clip the last few years. [...] the main rocket engine that launches SMCs into orbit (Falcon 9) emits hardly any chlorine at all, since it uses kerosene as its main fuel.
But here comes the bad news - kerosene does have another polluting effect - soot. Typically soot produced by ground sources is washed out by rain over a very short period of time. However, when it’s launched into the stratosphere behind a rocket, it can stay there for much longer - up to four years according to the paper.
The effects of all this soot in the stratosphere are complex. There’s some argument to be made that these black particles actually block some of the Sun’s light in the upper atmosphere. This consequently cools the lower atmosphere, but also heats the upper one.
While the first one sounds like a net benefit, given the ongoing trouble we are having in limiting other our climate damaging activities, we understand very little about the impact of heat on the upper atmosphere. According to the paper, SMC launches are responsible for 56% of this “instantaneous warming” coming from launches - and that number is only set to grow... (MORE - missing details)