David Galadí-Enríquez
Lecturer in the Department of Physics at the University of Cordoba
These are two complementary, relevant and novel articles that propose a change in approach to the environmental effects of the proliferation of artificial satellites and artificial light at night. One paper is scientific in nature, while the other, published as a commentary, takes a view that focuses on cultural, political and economic considerations.
The scientific study 'Aggregate effects of proliferating low-Earth-orbit objects and implications for astronomical data lost in the noise' is signed by a group of specialists with a long experience in this type of work and the highest prestige in the international community dedicated to these matters. Their conclusions are solid within the margin allowed by the available information, and extend the conclusions of previous studies in a direction that has been little studied. In particular, but not only, they draw attention to the general increase in sky brightness caused by large populations of small orbiting objects.
The main uncertainties facing this analysis stem from two sources: from the lack of knowledge of the future evolution of projects to place mega-constellations of satellites in orbit, and from the fact that data on small pieces of space debris are not available to the general civilian population.
Even so, the conclusions are of the utmost relevance. The article makes a considerable scientific and argumentative advance towards including light pollution in the broader scope of environmental problems and insists that the earth's surface, atmosphere and near space must be treated as an integral and integrated continuum, worthy of protection when considered as a whole.
The commentary 'A call for scientist to halt the spoiling of the night sky with artificial light and satellites', although not of a scientific-technical nature, raises a series of political, social and economic reflections that will not leave the scientific community indifferent.
The most striking aspect is the proposal to shift the focus from mitigating impacts through collaboration with polluting companies (which are asked to self-regulate) to addressing the problem from the point of view of top-down regulation. They also publish a series of considerations on artificial light as a pollutant that move the debate from the industrial and engineering realm (where it used to be) to the centre of the field of environmental studies. Their central thesis is that artificial light at night, whether from lighting or satellites, should be treated as an air pollutant, and that ways to control it should be designed from that point of view, both in terms of scientific-technical criteria and in terms of organisational, political, business, economic and communication issues.