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Methane in the atmosphere contributes significantly to global warming
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The German-French climate satellite will measure methane concentrations. This gas contributes to global warming in the same way as carbon dioxide, but its effect is 25 times greater. When it comes to the human-induced increase in quantity in the atmosphere, methane has clearly overtaken carbon dioxide. Since pre-industrial times, the methane in the atmosphere has more than doubled – while the increase in carbon dioxide over the same period has been 'only' 30 percent. As with carbon dioxide, methane is one of the gases for which emissions are to be reduced under the Kyoto Protocol.
Credit: NASA.
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The instrument sends and receives laser light
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The measuring instrument in space will search at 25,000 kilometres per hour for both natural methane sources and those caused by human activities. Fifty times per second, it will send a laser beam to the ground and receive the return signal. "With these measurements, we will obtain a world map showing atmospheric methane concentrations and also reveal regional differences," says Gerhard Ehret from the DLR Institute of Atmospheric Physics.
Credit: DLR.
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