ozone layer

They say that as more and more rockets are launched, the risks of harming the ozone layer increases.

And even craft that burn up completely might cause harm; researchers are concerned that the aerosolized metal could be damaging the ozone layer, reversing years of progress in protecting it.

Along with gaseous reactive nitrogen, satellites burning up as they re-enter the atmosphere at the end of their lives leave tiny particles of aluminum oxide, imperilling the still-recovering ozone layer.

Radiation is also much stronger in space without the protective ozone layer on Earth to buffer it, and it can have several impacts on the body at the cellular level.

Among those side effects: the aerosols could change rainfall patterns, and delay the recovery of the ozone layer.