Weatherwatch: Could global heating wreak havoc on Earth’s satellites?

Changes to the thermosphere caused by climate crisis could lead to increase in collisions

Chicken Licken warned that the sky was falling down, and now the climate crisis might be making that come true. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are cooling and contracting the upper atmosphere, even though these same gases warm the lower atmosphere.

A new concern is now up in the thermosphere at around 125-620 miles (200-1,000km) above Earth, where the International Space Station and about 11,900 satellites are in low Earth orbit, with the number of satellites rapidly increasing.