Featured Image Credit: ESA
The European Space Agency (ESA) have now launched a large umbrella-like craft into space, though it's task isn't to stop rain from falling but instead to study vital data surrounding climate change and global warming.
Only recently was experimental research approved to block out sunlight from reaching the Earth as a means of controlling global warming, but this newly launched mission by the ESA has a different purpose within the same realm of study.
Climate change is arguably one of the most pressing issues currently facing our planet, as researchers warn that we're reaching a 'tipping point' that'll be hard to manage if harmful emissions aren't contained in the next few years.
While many rightfully argue that nothing will happen if wider polluting actions aren't prevented in a large scale effort to move to greener energy solutions, vital information could indeed be sourced by the ESA's latest project that helps us understand the effects of deforestation on our planet.
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As reported by the Metro, an ESA mission named 'Biomass' has sent an umbrella-like spacecraft into orbit, with aims to measure the 'weight' of rainforests and jungles - especially in relation to their carbon impact.
Forests are often referred to as the world's 'green lungs' due to the amount of carbon dioxide that they consume and transform into the air, but when they're cut down through deforestation efforts (often in actions that have wider polluting effects) this carbon is then released into the atmosphere.
It's currently not properly understood exactly how impactful this carbon release is on our planet in relation to global warming, yet with Biomass this could finally be measured.
The umbrella-like craft measures around 12 meters in width, and features a P-band synthetic aperture radar that allows scientists to create 3D maps of forests.
This then reveals the forest's biomass and heigh, which will improve knowledge of habitat loss and the effects of that on global biodiversity. In detail, the radar will measure the areas where carbon is stored - trunks, branches, and stems - and that'll help inform the true effects of cutting down trees in certain areas.
A statement from the ESA reveals that "a major challenge for scientists and policymakers is the lack of accurate data on how much carbon forests store and how these stocks are changing owing to factors such as rising temperatures, increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, and human-driven land-use changes."
However, with Biomass this can now be studied, and it'll hopefully be used as a means to curb deforestation efforts, or at least understand the true impact of these measures on the environment.
