Astrophysicists have proposed to shade the Earth using space dust to combat warming

Astrophysicists have proposed placing large masses of dust in Earth’s orbit to combat global warming. Reported by the Harvard -Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

In the last couple of decades, scientists have come to the conclusion that the climate is gradually getting warmer due to human activities. This is primarily due to the effects of carbon dioxide, which creates the greenhouse effect. As a possible solution to the problem, a decrease in the power of solar radiation reaching the Earth is called. In particular, some experts suggested spraying aerosols in the atmosphere to create a small “volcanic winter”.

Now, astrophysicists have considered options for placing shading agents in space in orbit. The authors describe various possible properties of dust particles, their number and orbits, which are best suited to solve the problem. Scientists have discovered that launching dust from Earth to the L1 Lagrange point between the Earth and the Sun would create an effective sunscreen, but would require an undue cost of money and effort. In addition, the solar wind will continuously blow away dust particles, and the dust reserves will have to be renewed.

As an alternative, the authors suggest using lunar dust. They believe it could be a cheap and effective way to shade the Earth. Physicists have simulated a shot of lunar dust from a platform on the surface of the Moon towards the Sun. It turned out that the “innate” properties of lunar dust from the surface are just right for its effective work as a sunscreen. During the simulation, the dust was fired in different directions until the optimal trajectories directed towards L1 were found. With this technology, it will be much easier and cheaper to maintain the screen.

At the same time, scientists note that they are not specialists in rocket science and climatology, and only offer a new idea as one of the possible options.