BSc Geography Insights: Rockets, soot and the atmosphere

Rockets like those launched by SpaceX to send Starlink satellites into outer space burn rocket fuel that produces climate-altering pollutants. 

One of the most concerning pollutants are tiny black particles called ‘black carbon’ or, more colloquially, ‘soot’. 

Soot also comes from sources closer to the ground, like ships, lorries, cars, and coal-fired power plants. But rockets are unique in depositing pollutants into all layers of the atmosphere. 

In order to understand how soot from rockets affects the climate, we need to know the different circulation patterns of the atmosphere: where air is lofted upwards and where it subsides, and whether there are any seasonal shifts in these circulation patterns. 

This information helps us determine how long these soot particles stay in the atmosphere because the longer pollutants persist, the greater the environmental harm. 

We also need to understand how these soot particles interact with sunlight as this also determines the impact on the climate. 

It turns out these dark soot particles are very effective at absorbing the sun’s rays, a bit like wearing a black shirt on a sunny day. 

After these soot particles absorb sunlight from above, this energy is then re-emitted by the particles in every direction, heating the surrounding atmosphere and changing Earth’s climate.