The European Space Agency has deployed a one-of-a-kind satellite with the ability to scan more than a trillion complex organisms in the world’s rainforests.
The successful April launch was spotlighted in June in the Environmental Defense Fund’s Vital Signs newsletter, a trusted source for inspiring climate news stories, solutions, and ways you can take action.
The Biomass satellite, nicknamed Space Brolly because of its massive 12-meter diameter antenna, sparked optimism because scientists believe it will help them accurately measure how much carbon more than 1.5 trillion trees in rainforests are storing, per the BBC.
One 2021 study detailed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration suggests the Amazon rainforest (the largest rainforest in the world) contains around 123 billion tons of carbon above and below ground. Yet deforestation is threatening the Amazon and other crucial rainforests that help regulate the climate and keep temperatures in check.
The 1.3-ton satellite works similar to a CT scan, able to provide scientists with deeper insight into the health of rainforests. This could help them develop solutions to more effectively mitigate the life-threatening effects of the warming climate, including food insecurity and more intense extreme weather.
“We really want to interrogate these forests. We can actually look inside,” professor John Remedios, director of the National Centre for Earth Observation, told the BBC after the satellite’s launch from Kourou, French Guiana, on April 29.
This project is just one of the initiatives spotlighted by Vital Signs that underscores how environmentally focused technologies can be lucrative long-term investments, as governments, companies, and individuals come together to work toward a brighter future.
Ralph Cordey, head of geosciences at Airbus, told the BBC that the satellite was 20 years in the making, with its ability to penetrate clouds to gather data potentially revolutionizing how we protect rainforests and the biodiverse creatures that call them home.
“It’s exciting, because it’s going to tell us about how something that we perhaps take for granted,” he said. “Our forests, our trees, how they are contributing to the processes which govern our planet, and in particular, the processes behind climate change which are so important to us today and for the future.”
Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don’t miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.