Europe will be counting on a constellation of satellites that will be aiming to track greenhouse gas emissions. The new space mission was announced during the UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, by the European Space Agency and the Earth monitoring program of the EU. The mission will be based on a satellite constellation denominated European CO2 Monitoring and Verification Support Capacity (CO2MVS) and it is developed by the ESA and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, EUMETSAT. HOW DOES IT WORK? As the officials of the project explained it, once they are in the orbit, the satellites will measure the carbon dioxide and methane absorptions, the two most common greenhouse gases, in great detail and almost in real-time. The new constellation CO2MVS is planned to get functional in 2026. The representatives of the Copernicus program indicated that the new set of satellites 'will change the rules of the game', because it will give climate scientists the chance to identify the individual sources of the greenhouse gas emissions, like electric centrals and fossil fuel production centers. 'Since the start of the industrial revolution, we have seen carbon dioxide levels increase faster than ever before, and there is an increasing urgency to take real steps to make very significant emission reductions,' said Richard Engelen, deputy director of CAMS. He also added that 'By providing globally consistent and high-quality data on anthropogenic emissions we can support policymakers with this enormous challenge.'
