The massive swarm of commercial satellites being launched into orbit might accidentally solve global warming by casting a 'shadow' over the Earth.
April 1, 2026
Original Paper
Lots of Shade on Satellite Constellations
arXiv · 2603.29212
The Takeaway
While satellite 'megaconstellations' like Starlink are often seen as a problem for astronomers, this paper calculates that they will soon be numerous enough to significantly block incoming sunlight. The researchers suggest this unintended 'space shade' could provide a cooling effect that offsets human-caused climate change as early as 2031.
From the abstract
The high frequency of satellite launches, particularly over the last few years, has been a subject of significant concern, particularly relating to the future of observational astronomy, the stability of low Earth orbits, and environmental impacts. We call attention to the insufficiently-addressed silver lining of this looming satellite cloud. If the high rates of satellites continue as we model, we can expect the solar flux received by the Earth to significantly decrease in the relatively near