Climate-change summit should address verification procedures
OCT 08, 2010
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.024729
New Scientist : Later this fall in Cancún, Mexico, the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference will take place. Limiting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse-gas emissions will be the main topic, but before the discussions begin, an accurate method of measuring carbon emissions needs to be developed, argues Fred Pearce in New Scientist. Even the easiest emission to assess, carbon dioxide, may only be known to within 10%. And the uncertainties for other greenhouse gases are even greater. A combination of satellite monitoring of forest cover, remote sensing from aircraft, and detailed measurements of gases close to the ground would provide a good method of verifying national emissions. “A final piece of the jigsaw could be NASA’s satellite, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory [set to launch in 2013], which will for the first time provide a global overview of carbon emissions and sinks,” Pearce concludes.
© 2010 American Institute of Physics
