NASA's first geosynchronous satellite.
The build-up of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere is predicted to have a number of effects here on Earth: record high temperatures, unprecedented droughts, and stronger than normal storms. But the effects may also extend to what's far, far above us. Hydrogeologist Scott K. Johnson writes
at Ars Technica that the "non-intuitive" consequences of climate change will be significant, including, potentially, screwing with the paths of satellites circling the Earth. Here's how:
As humans, we really only experience the lower atmosphere—the troposphere and stratosphere that extend about 30 miles from the surface. That’s where nearly all of the gas in the atmosphere resides, and that’s where weather happens. Even Felix Baumgartner, the daredevil skydiver, "only" jumped from the stratosphere. But technically, the atmosphere extends a whole lot higher than that. It’s another 150 miles or so before we truly reach interplanetary space. A number of satellites, ...
