Researchers from the University of Plymouth are asking leaders to study how we manage our planet’s orbit before it is damaged by space companies. They suggest making a legally-binding agreement to protect it from becoming too polluted or messed up with.
Recently, nearly 200 countries agreed on a treaty to protect the “High Seas.” This agreement was made after a 20-year process. Experts suggest we should take what we learnt from this part of our planet and apply it other parts too.
Right now there are about 9,000 satellites in space but by the year 2030 that number is predicted to rise up to 60,000. There could be more than 100 trillion pieces of space junk from old satellites circling around Earth.
Technology has many good uses that help the environment, but some people are worried that using too much of it could make it hard to use parts of space around Earth. Scientists wrote about this in a special magazine for science called Science and said that we need to figure out how to manage space near Earth before there’s too much stuff up there.
Lots of businesses and countries are paying attention to how they use space, but everyone should be following these same rules.
When leaders agree on what to do, they want people who make and use satellites to be held responsible for any waste or debris they create. This includes making sure businesses pay the cost of cleaning up messes. Similar plans are being made to help deal with plastic in oceans, which is why people are talking about a Global Plastics Treaty.
Experts are warning that if we don’t act now, places around the world may suffer like the High Seas. This area has issues due to lack of control — people have been overfishing, destroying habitats and even exploring for minerals on the ocean floor. Plus, it’s full of plastic pollution!
This article was co-written by experts from 7 different organizations: the University of Plymouth, Arribada Initiative, The University of Texas at Austin, California Institute of Technology, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Spaceport Cornwall, and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
Scientists have led the way in studying plastic waste that ends up in our oceans, and they were also part of the many world leaders who made a promise to come up with a plan to reduce plastic waste around the globe by March 2022.
Dr. Imogen Napper, a researcher at the University of Plymouth, was in charge of the recently released study funded by the National Geographical Society. She stated that although plastic pollution and other ocean problems are gaining global focus, people aren’t working on it together very much or following through with solutions quickly enough. We need to look back and learn from our mistakes so we don’t make them again when it comes to dealing with space debris. If we don’t develop a global agreement soon, then we’re headed down a familiar path.
Heather Koldewey, who’s a Senior Marine Technical Advisor at the Zoological Society of London, said: “To sort out global problems, we need to bring together specialists from different areas to determine and speed up the solutions. Even though I’m a marine biologist, this collaborative research allowed me to write a paper about space – which has many similarities with the issues concerning environmental protection in the sea. We just have to figure out how to apply science quickly into making policies.”
Dr. Moriba Jah, who works at The University of Texas in Austin, says that we should take care of and protect the environment because it affects our lives. He also wants to show how trash on land (marine debris) is connected to litter in space (space debris), and how both are a problem caused by humans but can be prevented.
Dr. Kimberley Miner, who works for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, said: “If we can make sure the area around our Earth is free of pollution, there will be more space exploration and cool new technology being developed that can improve all our lives.”
Melissa Quinn, the Head of Spaceport Cornwall, has said that satellites are very important and they make life better for people and our planet. But, if we don’t take responsibility now, it can be harmful to future generations. She encourages all grown-ups to realize how big a step this is, and work together to make sure it remains a good thing.
Professor Richard Thompson OBE, who leads the International Marine Litter Research Unit at the University of Plymouth, said that if people had acted to stop plastic pollution a decade ago, we’d have much less in our oceans now. If we want to help and protect our planet’s future, she suggested that people use the lessons learned from mistakes made with ocean plastic, to reduce debris in space too.
