Carbon+Satellite+to+Serve+as+an+Important+Tool+for+Politicians+and+Climate+Change+Experts

Carbon Satellite to Serve as an Important Tool for Politicians and Climate Change Experts ScienceDaily (Science News Subsection) Accessed May 10, 2018 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180508102154.htm

**Summary:** In the beginning of this very interesting article, it talks about the context of carbon and the role that it plays in the environment and our lives in a general sense. However, it quickly describes how a monumental discovery was made in the form of manipulating the technological data of a French satellite encircling the Earth. What was discovered was that the alterations of technology in the satellite could allow the satellite to be able to pinpoint exact sources of where carbon is being released, be it vegetation or something else. The University of Copenhagen also states that this satellite can be applied to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in the sense that this, and more, satellite(s) can track the carbon equability and emissions produced by each country produced over a certain time period. The University compares this achievement to that of the discovery of infrared measurements (primarily for temperature) as the magnitude and area covered is highly advanced.


 * Relevance to Course: ** This advancement in technology is very relevant to what we have covered throughout the year when it comes to the carbon cycle, and carbon emissions as a greenhouse gas (GHGs). This advancement in the scope of the satellite allows us to point exact sources of carbon emissions even though "[...] Some CO2 also enters the atmosphere from aerobic respiration and from volcanic eruptions [...]" (Miller 115). Even though this reinstates a generalized area, these satellites covers very specific areas so areas can be politically controlled. In the textbook it also says "[...] 1995 IPCC report, stabilizing CO2 levels at the current level would require reducing current global CO2 emissions [...]" (Miller 515). Again, using this satellite would allow climate change experts to exact locations on areas maybe producing more carbon emissions, so that something can be done. This all relates to the question of how we can try and limit our emission rates of carbon (dioxide in particular) and slow climate change, and all the other negative effects of carbon emissions.


 * Opinion: ** Obviously, I was not aware of such a discovery, but this is a very good step in the right direction in my opinion. Since graphics and images are already sent down, the costs and infrastructure approaches are nullified greatly. In the case of the environment, this is a great idea as pinpointing exact locations as to where carbon emissions are the greatest allows or climate change experts and environmentalists to exact a political plea for ensuring that a certain area is conserved or altered to reduce the carbon emissions. This article is very brief and not fully in-depth, so I don't really know the benefits and costs to using this method. However, as it is described, it is well received and can be considered, at least in my eyes, as a serious solution to diluting huge areas of carbon emissions.


 * Laws: ** Though not in a designated law specifically set to this situation, there have been some laws previously that pad on to this situation. The Clean Air Act of 1963 really highlights this entire scenario as climate experts are trying to utilize this scanning from the satellites to appeal to political leaders to enact regulations to reduce emissions of carbon. The Clean Air Act is pretty much the only law that relatively has much to do with the represented scenario.

( A graphic representation of how the computer modeling from NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) satellite projects carbon emission areas, sourced by NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-pinpoints-cause-of-earth-s-recent-record-carbon-dioxide-spike)


 * Post Script* -> I hope everybody did well on their APES AP Exam!