Member-only story

Climate TRACE is a Game Changer in Emissions Monitoring

When Big Data and AI are used for good, the results are tremendous

Sean Youra
Climate Conscious
6 min readJan 24, 2022

--

Photo by NASA on Unsplash

Satellites are a critical climate monitoring technology

Satellites are easily the most underrated technology that aids our ability to address the climate crisis. Rightfully so, most of the focus in terms of technological innovation tends to be on climate solutions — EVs, solar panels, direct air capture, etc. But climate monitoring technology really deserves more attention than it gets. After all, we won’t really know how effective these solutions will ultimately be if we can’t accurately and reliably track the emissions of the technologies they hope to replace.

As you’re reading this sentence, satellites are monitoring ocean and land temperatures, sea level height, precipitation, land cover, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and so much more. Ever since TIROS 1, the first weather satellite to be launched into space in 1960, satellites have been rapidly improving in their ability to provide valuable data about the climate system. Satellites today provide near real-time continuous monitoring of this vastly complex system that was impossible to monitor on a global scale with sufficient spatial and temporal resolution using prior monitoring instruments.

--

--

Climate Conscious
Climate Conscious

Published in Climate Conscious

Bringing people together from around the world to discuss solutions to the climate crisis and to build a collective vision for a better tomorrow.

Sean Youra
Sean Youra

Written by Sean Youra

Helping local governments decarbonize | Founder and former Editor-in-Chief of Climate Conscious

Responses (2)