Study says Moon dust could help fight climate change

In a study published in the scientific journal PLOS Climate, Researchers at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the University of Utah have discovered that lunar dust can protect planet Earth from planetary influences. climate change. The strategy can help reverse the problems caused by greenhouse gases and mitigate global warming.

Article published last Wednesday (8), Dust can help block some of the light and create a kind of shade against the sun’s radiation. Sun. The research team discovered that it is possible to eject dust at a specific point between the Sun and Earth to create this protective measure, but this can be very expensive and difficult.

Fortunately, they also realized that there was an alternative and less expensive form of lunar dust released from the Moon itself. To understand this possibility, scientists applied a technique used to study the formation of planets around distant stars, as this formation often raises large amounts of dust that forms rings around stars – these dust rings can capture some of that star’s light.

Moon dust against climate change

“This was the seed of the idea; If we took a small amount of material and placed it in a special orbit between the Earth and the Sun and smashed it, we could block out a large amount of sunlight with a small amount of mass,” said Ben Bromley, Physics and astronomy at the University of Utah.

One of the biggest problems with this method is that an orbiter can hold dust long enough to provide the necessary protection for Earth. But the study’s co-author Sameer Khan says the orbits can last long enough to cast protective shadows against the effects of climate change.

In simulations, the researchers investigated whether they could send dust to the nearest region where the gravitational forces balance between Earth and Sun – this location is known as Lagrange Point 1. They have confirmed from tests that this is possible. to accurately release dust into the area, thereby creating a protective ‘shield’. However, due to deflections caused by solar winds and radiation, it will be necessary to send Lunar dust with some constancy.