<p>BGR's June 19, 2024 <a href="https://bgr.com/science/new-study-claims-starlink-satellites-may-be-killing-the-ozone/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">New study claims Starlink satellites may be killing the ozone</a> links to Ferreira et al. (2024)'s Geophysical Research Letter <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024GL109280" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Potential Ozone Depletion From Satellite Demise During Atmospheric Reentry in the Era of Mega-Constellations</a></p>
<p>The BGR article says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>While I’m not going to sit here and point the finger at Starlink solely—this is a problem indicative of a much <a href="https://bgr.com/science/satellites-burning-up-on-re-entry-might-not-be-as-harmless-as-we-thought/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">bigger issue regarding satellites</a> as a whole—the potential damage to the ozone layer is extremely troubling. It’s this layer that helps keep Earth’s temperature in check, and as it weakens, more solar radiation is able to pass through.</p>
<p>This, obviously, has a whole heap of problems behind it, including the fact that it is raising temperatures in places like the Arctic, where important ice shelves are already teetering on the edge of collapsing. While plans to refreeze the Arctic are on the docket, if SpaceX and others continue their plans to put these ozone-poisoning satellites through the atmosphere, we could end up with even more damage to the ozone than ever.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The concern is that as those regularly disposed-of Starlink satellites burn up around 80 - 100 km their substantial aluminum content produces aluminum oxide particulates at high altitude.</p>
<p>These can affect atmospheric chemistry at high altitude.</p>
<p><strong>Question:</strong> Does the Earth's ozone layer play a role in maintaining the temperature of places like the arctic?</p>
<p>I thought the concern was UV's ability to interact with DNA, not it's melting of ice.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-06-21T08:25:29.970Z
Good question.  The original source makes no such claim.  Due to your question, I updated [my answer to this related question on Space.SE](https://space.stackexchange.com/a/46316/33).
gerrit
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-06-21T11:51:59.480Z
@gerrit Thanks for the info! I suspect the author simply conflated two very different things.
uhoh
<climate-change><air-pollution><ozone><particulates>
Does the Earth's ozone layer play a role in maintaining the temperature of places like the arctic?
uhoh
# Does the Earth's ozone layer play a role in maintaining the temperature of places like the arctic?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-06-20)

BGR's June 19, 2024 [New study claims Starlink satellites may be killing the ozone](https://bgr.com/science/new-study-claims-starlink-satellites-may-be-killing-the-ozone/) links to Ferreira et al. (2024)'s Geophysical Research Letter [Potential Ozone Depletion From Satellite Demise During Atmospheric Reentry in the Era of Mega-Constellations](https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024GL109280)

The BGR article says:

> While I’m not going to sit here and point the finger at Starlink solely—this is a problem indicative of a much [bigger issue regarding satellites](https://bgr.com/science/satellites-burning-up-on-re-entry-might-not-be-as-harmless-as-we-thought/) as a whole—the potential damage to the ozone layer is extremely troubling. It’s this layer that helps keep Earth’s temperature in check, and as it weakens, more solar radiation is able to pass through.
>
> This, obviously, has a whole heap of problems behind it, including the fact that it is raising temperatures in places like the Arctic, where important ice shelves are already teetering on the edge of collapsing. While plans to refreeze the Arctic are on the docket, if SpaceX and others continue their plans to put these ozone-poisoning satellites through the atmosphere, we could end up with even more damage to the ozone than ever.

The concern is that as those regularly disposed-of Starlink satellites burn up around 80 - 100 km their substantial aluminum content produces aluminum oxide particulates at high altitude.

These can affect atmospheric chemistry at high altitude.

**Question:** Does the Earth's ozone layer play a role in maintaining the temperature of places like the arctic?

I thought the concern was UV's ability to interact with DNA, not it's melting of ice.

**Tags:** climate-change, air-pollution, ozone, particulates

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Good question.  The original source makes no such claim.  Due to your question, I updated [my answer to this related question on Space.SE](https://space.stackexchange.com/a/46316/33).  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Thanks for the info! I suspect the author simply conflated two very different things.  

---

## 0 answers

