Science Team: Climate Change Affecting Space Debris, Satellites Around Earth; Could Pose Threats to Spacecraft

The effects of climate change are being felt as far away as the edges of space, if what researchers say is correct.

Climate change resulting from man-made greenhouse emissions such as carbon dioxide is affecting the outermost part of Earth's atmosphere and posing threats to spacecrafts, according to a new study published in the Nov. 11 issue of science journal Nature Geoscience.

In the study, lead by John Emmert of the Space Science Division branch of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, researchers warn that manmade carbon dioxide is expected to multiply in the atmosphere in such a way that it would result in a cooler, more contracted atmosphere.

This would "reduce atmospheric drag on satellites and may have adverse consequences for the orbital debris environment that is already unstable," the study warns.

However, the study also states that the thermospheric mass density trends taken from satellite tend to be stronger than model predictions, meaning that researchers' understanding of those changes were incomplete. Thus far, they added, carbon dioxide trends have been measured up to only 35,000 kilometers altitude.

As the Los Angeles Times reported Monday, tracking space debris is one of the aerospace business's biggest tasks. The LA Times reported on the issue earlier this year, noting that a 2011 NASA study "determined that there were more than 22,000 pieces of space debris larger than 4 inches orbiting the Earth -- and that even tiny pieces of junk can inflict major harm on a spacecraft."

"The next challenge is to understand why the observed carbon dioxide trends are bigger than expected," Emmert told SPACE.com. "This requires the application of sophisticated, whole-atmosphere models."