PhysOrg: Rising carbon dioxide levels increase risks to satellites

Here is an interesting problem, I think, few have considered. Increasing carbon dioxide levels have the opposite effect on the upper-atmosphere as they do on the the atmosphere we all breath. Low-orbit satellites my have to deal with colder, thinner atmosphere leading to more space debris, and a slower descent from orbit.

"According to the research team’s initial predictions a process known as ‘collision cascading’ – where the number of collisions in orbit increases exponentially – could occur much more quickly in the region of space between 200 km and 2,000 km above the Earth in response to rising CO2 levels. Simulations of a ‘business as usual’ scenario, where satellites are launched and destroyed at the rate they are now, show a 17 per cent increase in the number of collisions and a 30 per cent increase in the number of objects larger than 1 cm by the end of the 21st century."

PhysOrg: Rising carbon dioxide levels increase risks to satellites