[timschmidt]

It's tough to find figures, but the amount of aluminum lost during smelting not accounted for in dross is as much as half a percent. World smelting capacity is 113 million tons per year. Which maths to as much as 565,000 tons of vaporized aluminum per year.

You're right that it's released into the lower atmosphere, though I'm sure smoke stacks loft that significantly in many cases. And it's difficult for me to believe that a few hundred kg per day, even if all of it ended up in the upper atmosphere, is anything more than a blip in comparison to what lofts up from industry.

The difference would have to be many thousands of times worse for upper atmosphere releases for it to even register.

[eesmith]

> though I'm sure smoke stacks loft that significantly in many cases

It must be nice believing that your personal views are always correct.

To know that those geoengineers who want to disperse aluminum oxide to reduce the Earth's albedo clearly don't know how insignificant those aircraft deployed aerosols are compared to the byproducts of aluminum smelting.

To understand that conclusions like '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' can be ignored because 17 metric tons should be a blip compared to what lofts up from industry. (Quoting https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.102... )

That statements like "The natural entry of aluminum (Al) into Earth's atmosphere, primarily from meteoroids, is estimated at 141.1 metric tons (Mg) per year" is a deliberate obfuscation because it doesn't include antropogenic ground contributions. (Quoting https://www.viasat.com/content/dam/us-site/corporate/documen... )

That people looking into wood-composite alternatives to aluminum, due to concerns about "increased metallic aerosols in the stratosphere" (https://conference.sdo.esoc.esa.int/proceedings/sdc9/paper/8... ) are wasting their time.

[timschmidt]

> It must be nice believing that your personal views are always correct.

Well that's needlessly confrontational.

> That statements like "The natural entry of aluminum (Al) into Earth's atmosphere, primarily from meteoroids, is estimated at 141.1 metric tons (Mg) per year" is a deliberate obfuscation because it doesn't include antropogenic ground contributions.

Completely baffled as to who said this, and who you're accusing of deliberate obfuscation. The quote certainly wasn't pulled from any of my comments.

> That people looking into wood-composite alternatives to aluminum, due to concerns about "increased metallic aerosols in the stratosphere" (https://conference.sdo.esoc.esa.int/proceedings/sdc9/paper/8... ) are wasting their time.

And you seem to have assumed a position here which I haven't taken. I have made no statements positive or negative about whether or not aluminum aerosols are harmful. Only that industry dwarfs satellite re-entry. And only after looking up stats.

I hope you're able to have a less angry day! Maybe take a walk?

[eesmith]

> Completely baffled as to who said this

Follow the URL after "Quoting", on the line immediately following what you quoted. I gave URLs so you could read what actual experts are saying and doing.

> Only that industry dwarfs satellite re-entry.

You have made a hand-wavy gut-feeling conjecture about the amount of human-produced ground sources of aluminum in the upper atmosphere. You have given no stats.

I have linked to several papers and articles by people whose research (scientific and journalistic) say that, yes, the demise of megaconstellation satellites will significantly increase the percentage of aluminum in the upper atmosphere, with potentially negative effects like thinning the ozone layer.

Your belief about ground sources necessarily implies you believe all those researchers must be wrong.

[DemocracyFTW2]

> Well that's needlessly confrontational.

you're the one who said "scaremongering".