There is still so much we need to know about carbon dioxide and how its variations affect climate change, that having an ensemble picture of it would be ideal. This is why NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory is likely to provide the information we needed to make more accurate predictions, establish better policies, and improve the quality of life in general.
As we all know it, carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, thus it is very important that we understand how much of it is naturally produced, and how much of it is produced by human activities. Furthermore, we also need a better understanding of how carbon dioxide is being absorbed by the ocean or by land. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory mission will attempt to learn the complete cycle of dioxide carbon, and the reasons why it fluctuates so much.
The space observatory will primarily study the carbon dioxide sources, as well as the carbon dioxide sinks, the places where it is stored. This will help scientists create accurate models on climate change at global level, thus helping lawmakers take the necessary actions to ensure that their decisions will contribute to climate stability.
Carbon dioxide comes from various sources, such as volcanoes, geothermal processes (hot springs, geysers), as well as the respiration of plants and animals. Plants for example use it during the photosynthesis process, to make sugars, later consumed in respiration.
Humans also have their contribution to the production of carbon dioxide, and most of that (about 85 percent) comes from burning fossil fuels, such as natural gas, fuel oil, gasoline and coal. The rest comes from other processes, such as burning crops or wildfires, but also manufacturing processes, such as the brewing of beer and other alcoholic beverages, lime manufacturing, and more.
But perhaps one of the most mysterious aspects of carbon dioxide cycle is how it is being absorbed into these so-called sinks, either by the land on by the oceans. According to scientists, despite the continuous growth of carbon dioxide emissions every year, it’s still hard to identify all these sinks. Finding them will perhaps also answer another question on how these locations control the variation of the carbon dioxide absorbed by our planet.
As David Crisp of JPL, principal investigator for the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, said, we still don’t know how much carbon dioxide is absorbed by the land, and how much by the ocean. Furthermore, we still don’t know why in some years, the Earth absorbs almost all of the carbon dioxide produced by humans, and in other years, it absorbs none.
The Orbiting Carbon Observatory is also a call for all the nations of the world to take the matter of dioxide carbon emissions seriously, and to take the necessary steps to reduce our carbon footprint, by burning less fossil fuels, and by promoting alternative sources of energy.
The carbon observatory will provide scientists with approximately 8 million carbon dioxide measurements every 16 days. There will be approximately 14.5 orbits per day, and approximately 37,000 measurements for each of them.
Update: Few minutes into the launch of NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory and its Taurus booster, NASA declared a contingency, after the payload fairing failed to separate. A press conference will take place at 7:15 a.m. today.
