NASA scientists opened a discussion Thursday (July 20) to outline the key solutions they’ve been working on to mitigate the dire effects of global warming.
As heat waves continue to sweep across the land, Wildfires are burning across North America and natural disasters such as Tornadoes An increase in intensity – all human-caused consequences Climate change – The space agency is interested and looking for ways it can help mitigate the effects of a warming planet. “This past June was the warmest June on record,” Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said. He said. “And we expect, understanding what’s going on, on a daily basis, that July is likely to be the warmest month on record.”
To be clear, this is a record that goes back hundreds, if not thousands, of years, he said.
While Schmidt and his fellow presenters mentioned very few NASA endeavors to combat climate change, some of the highlights included missions to improve our understanding of how global warming is altering biological systems, and research into next-generation technologies such as drones to monitor and deploy wildfire response mechanisms. Satellites to track greenhouse gas emissions around the world.
Related: NASA highlights climate research at the inaugural Summit Opening
Another recurring topic of discussion was the importance of generating original climate data that would be available to the public, researchers and policy makers with the potential to make a difference.
There was some initial talk about how artificial intelligence and deep learning could help the agency get as accurate and accurate climate data as possible, but the team stressed how such mechanisms are still a work in progress.
“Our science isn’t done until we tell it,” said Karen St. Germain, director of NASA’s Earth Science Division. “This has never been more important or compelling than it is today. NASA Earth Science is a comprehensive capability from technology all the way through what observations mean, today and in the future. This end-to-end capability gives us the opportunity to deliver actionable science and information so more people can see the Earth as we see it.”
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said, “You think of NASA as a space agency; and you think of NASA as an aeronautical agency. NASA is also a climate agency.”
This feeling clearly grew when a diverse group of experts in marine sciences, aeronautical engineering and environmental studies spoke during the conference about the pace with which climate change must be dealt with.
“The heat waves we’re seeing in the United States, Europe and China are breaking records left, right and centre,” Schmidt said. “There has been decade upon decade of increasing temperatures — for the past four decades.” In fact, Gavin has suggested that 2023 will be the hottest year on record, and 2024 will likely take that grim title.
NASA is not only focused on managing the crisis in order to protect humanity, but also to help terrestrial and marine species.
“The water around Florida is over 90 degrees Fahrenheit, which is very complex for marine species like corals, marine plants and marine animals,” said Carlos del Castillo, chief of the Ocean Environment Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “And all the carbon dioxide we put in the air causes that temperature — a lot of it goes into the ocean.”
To put this in perspective, he says we’ve increased the acidity of the ocean by about 25% since the Industrial Revolution.
“Almost everywhere, particularly in the oceans, we’ve seen record sea surface temperatures — even outside the tropics,” Schmidt said. “We expect that to continue, and the reason is that we continue to put greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. And until we stop doing that, temperatures will continue to rise.”
upcoming NASA PACE missionscheduled for release in early 2024, in addition to GLIMR missioncurrently expected to start next year, will hopefully help scientists decipher how to tackle this marine problem.
Both are satellite-based systems, but PACE, which stands for Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, and Ocean Ecosystem, will be more focused on detecting ocean color changes, clouds and aerosols, while GLIMR, which stands for Geostationary Coastal Observation and Imaging Radiometer, will identify things like harmful algal blooms and oil spills.
However, the two are believed to work in tandem with each other to paint a complete picture of how climate change is affecting our oceans and the organisms within them.
They will add to the more than two dozen climate-related missions NASA already has in orbit, such as the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 and 3. measure greenhouse gas emissions It originates from Europe’s largest coal-fired power plant earlier this year.
“Why should we care?” Del Castillo said, “Well, these little marine plants are at the bottom of the food web. They produce about 50% of the oxygen we breathe—and of course the ocean helps regulate the weather.”
In the field of spaceflight, Huy Tran, director of aeronautics at NASA’s Ames Research Center, touched on some of the green technologies and sustainable aviation propulsion mechanisms that the agency intends to develop for various forms of air travel.
“Last year, the Flight Research Mission Directorate launched the National Sustained Aviation Partnership, and this initiative has allowed us to accelerate and make good progress on net-zero flight by 2050,” Tran said, referring to a NASA aeronautical research organization.
Some of the ideas that have been put forward for sustainable aviation include all-electric aircraft and a way to ensure less fuel burn for commercial aviation. Tran also discussed the possibility of creating drones and drones to take care of wildfires without putting lives at risk.
Moreover, by partnering with organizations like FEMA and NOAA, Earth Action co-director Tom Wagner said the agency hopes to identify community needs for actionable climate change solutions.
“What we do know from science is that human activity and greenhouse gas emissions are unequivocally causing the warming we’re seeing on our planet,” said Kate Calvin, NASA’s chief scientist and chief climate advisor.
“This affects people and ecosystems around the world.”
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