> We find that the population of reentering satellites in 2022 caused a 29.5% increase of aluminum in the atmosphere above the natural level, resulting in around 17 metric tons of aluminum oxides injected into the mesosphere...
On the scale of the planet, that's incredibly tiny. 17 metric tons of aluminum oxide can be made by oxidizing a cube of aluminum about 1 meter on a side. The catalytic action must be incredibly potent!
Wolfram helpfully tells me that the mass of the mesosphere is on the order of 10^12 tons, so that's on the order of parts per trillion.
On the scale of the planet, that's incredibly tiny. 17 metric tons of aluminum oxide can be made by oxidizing a cube of aluminum about 1 meter on a side. The catalytic action must be incredibly potent!
Wolfram helpfully tells me that the mass of the mesosphere is on the order of 10^12 tons, so that's on the order of parts per trillion.