Humans are polluting the upper atmosphere with flaming space junk
Experts are still unsure of the effects
Frequent satellite launches may leave scars in the atmosphere, according to a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. A team of atmospheric scientists flew a NASA aircraft over Alaska, sampling the stratosphere. They found traces of lithium, aluminum, copper and lead in higher quantities than what would be produced naturally. "We are finding this human-made material in what we consider a pristine area of the atmosphere," Dan Cziczo, one of the authors of the study, said in a statement.
Experts have long believed that the world has a space junk problem. There have been a number of instances in which pieces of space junk fell to the surface of the Earth, injuring people, or disrupting space stations and space crafts. This research suggests that burning, disintegrating space junk and returning rockets are also polluting the crucial layer of atmosphere that holds the Earth's ozone shield.
This is "the first observational evidence that space activities are a very significant source of particulate pollution to the stratosphere," Slimane Bekki, an atmospheric scientist at the French research laboratory LATMOS, told Popular Science. And experts don't know how space junk pollution will affect the stratosphere or the planet below it.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Realistically, "the only way for these particles not to appear in the upper atmosphere is for the satellites not to be launched in the first place," Jamie Shutler, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Exeter, told Popular Science.
-
‘Let 2026 be a year of reckoning’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Why is Iran facing its biggest protests in years?TODAY’S BIG QUESTION Iranians are taking to the streets as a growing movement of civic unrest threatens a fragile stability
-
How prediction markets have spread to politicsThe explainer Everything’s a gamble
-
The 5 biggest astronomy stories of 2025In the spotlight From moons, to comets, to pop stars in orbit
-
How climate change is affecting ChristmasThe Explainer There may be a slim chance of future white Christmases
-
Blue Origin launches Mars probes in NASA debutSpeed Read The New Glenn rocket is carrying small twin spacecraft toward Mars as part of NASA’s Escapade mission
-
‘The Big Crunch’: why science is divided over the future of the universeThe Explainer New study upends the prevailing theory about dark matter and says it is weakening
-
Why scientists are attempting nuclear fusionThe Explainer Harnessing the reaction that powers the stars could offer a potentially unlimited source of carbon-free energy, and the race is hotting up
-
The moon is rustingUnder the radar The Earth is likely to blame
-
Panspermia: the theory that life was sent to Earth by aliensUnder The Radar New findings have resurfaced an old, controversial idea
-
Africa could become the next frontier for space programsThe Explainer China and the US are both working on space applications for Africa
