Let’s save the Earth’s orbit from space debris: this is the appeal launched from the pages of the journal Science by an international collaboration of scientists, who are clamoring for a global binding treaty to safeguard them as has been done for the protection of the oceans. Among the signatories of the open letter there are not only space technology experts and NASA technicians, but also the scientists who convinced 170 world leaders to commit to drafting a global treaty on plastics at the United Nations assembly, including the academic who conducted the first ever study on marine microplastics, also published in Science nearly 20 years ago.
“I have spent most of my career working on the buildup of plastic waste in the marine environment, the damage it can cause and potential solutions,” says marine biologist Richard Thompson of the University of Plymouth. “It is very clear that much of the pollution we see today could have been prevented. We were well aware of the plastic pollution problem a decade ago, and if we had acted, the amount of plastic in our oceans could have been half as much. the current one. Going forward we need to take a much more proactive stance to help safeguard the future of our planet. There is a lot to learn from the mistakes made in our oceans, which is also of great importance for the accumulation of debris in space ” .
The question can no longer be postponed, because the space industry is growing rapidly globally. “The number of satellites in orbit is expected to rise from the current 9,000 to more than 60,000 by 2030,” the experts report in the Science letter. “Moreover, it is estimated that more than 100 trillion untracked fragments of old satellites are already in orbit.” To avoid repeating the same mistakes in space that have prevented the protection of Earth’s oceans for decades, experts believe that “collective cooperation, backed by science, is needed to develop a timely and legally binding treaty to help protect orbit terrestrial”.
The agreement, the appeal continues, “should include measures to implement producer and user responsibility for satellites and debris, from the time of launch onwards. International legislation should be applied, including fines and incentives to ensure accountability. Finally, the treaty should require that all countries intending to use Earth orbit engage in global cooperation.” Only by keeping space clean, as NASA’s Kimberley Miner observes, can we continue to make progress in space exploration, the use of satellites and the development of life-changing space technologies.
Source: Ansa
I am a journalist with over 6 years of experience working in the news industry. I currently work as an author for Global Happenings, and my coverage focuses on Technology news. I have written for various publications, including Reuters, The New York Times and The Guardian.
