The carbon detectives

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Mar 18, 2019 · 12 min read

by Stephen Battersby

Even if countries agree to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, researchers face the monumental task of precisely monitoring the amounts of gases that are being emitted, and where. New tech will help, but the complications are many.

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As shown in this artist’s conception, NASA’s GeoCarb mission, planned for a 2021 launch, will map concentrations of carbon gases from a high, geostationary orbit, allowing it to scan across an area the size of the continental United States every 2 hours or so. Image courtesy of NASA/Lockheed Martin/University of Oklahoma.

To escape the worst ravages of climate change, humans have a steep path to climb. The Paris climate accord negotiated in 2015 aims to limit global…

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