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> The Van Allen Belts are two torus-like regions of trapped solar energizing particles that protect the atmosphere. The mass of the Van Allen Belts is 0.00018 k
by nickysielicki 2y ago
> The Van Allen Belts are two torus-like regions of trapped solar energizing particles that protect the atmosphere. The mass of the Van Allen Belts is 0.00018 kilograms. The masses of other parts of the magneto- sphere (ring current, plasmasphere, etc) are not widely estimated but are less dense than the Van Allen Belts. The mass of one second generation Starlink satellite is 1250 kilograms[7], in which all of the mass will become conductive particulate in 5 years during re-entry demolishment and will be added to the lower ionosphere for an indefinite time. Thus, the space industry is adding enormous amounts of material to the magnetosphere in comparison to the magnetosphere’s natural level of particulate and this is forming a layer of artificial plasma dust in the meteor ablation zone. Due to the conductive nature of the satellite material, this may perturb or change the magnetosphere. A depletion or change of the magnetosphere could subsequently have an impact on the atmosphere.
lol
- squigz 2y agoDo you mind if I ask why you added "lol" to the end?
- nickysielicki 2y agovibes, mostly
- protomolecule 2y agoWhat do you mean? Not a native speaker
- Dalewyn 2y agoFearmongering vibes. The cited paragraph puts down big numbers and scary words in random order to basically say "zomg the MaGnEtOsPhErE might climate change!". It's worthless, waste of time FUD. And on the off chance what they're saying has any scientific basis: They should have cited papers and explained the process in detail. That they didn't means this is still a waste of time FUD.
- squigz 2y agoThe only FUD I see here is this comment. They link to the paper they're referring to in the article.
- Dalewyn 2y agoI admit I didn't click this link at first given the seeming vapidness of the claim, and I will correct myself here that the passage cited is from the cited would-be paper rather than the linked article. I say "would-be" because that's what the article has to say about the would-be paper: >In the new theoretical paper, uploaded to the pre-print database arXiv in December 2023 but not yet peer-reviewed, Sierra Solter-Hunt, a doctoral candidate at the University of Iceland, proposed that this atmospheric spacecraft dust may compromise the magnetosphere — the part of Earth's magnetic field that extends into space and protects the atmosphere from solar radiation. So it's not a paper yet and namely hasn't been reviewed by peers, nor is the author a doctor (as in PhD) proper yet. This isn't something layman can refer to for information, not yet anyway. Given that, I stand by my initial claim that this is fearmongering and FUD. Nothing in there has been confirmed as worthy of our time to discuss.
- squigz 2y agoSo they point out it's a theoretical paper that hasn't been peer-reviewed yet, but it's FUD? Interesting I assume you apply this standard to every arXiv paper posted here or referenced by a science publication?
- Dalewyn 2y agoIf someone asks me to fear/panic/rage over something that is at best speculation as of publication? Yes I will call that FUD and be on my way. Doesn't matter if it's from Arxiv or 4chan.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- LeonB 2y agoIt’s an exemplar of “whistling past the grave yard” dark humour.
- hindsightbias 2y agoJust another of a long list of Great Filters.
- exe34 2y agoThat's amazing, I might get to see an aurora after all!
- euroderf 2y agoIn the early 60s the Van Allen Belts were a source of concern for putting men in space. Then all of a sudden they weren't a concern any more. I never did figure out why they suddenly went off the radar (so to speak).