On February 8, 2024, NASA launched the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite to study the effects of climate change. The PACE mission will study the exchange of carbon dioxide between the ocean and the atmosphere, and how microscopic particles in the atmosphere may affect phytoplankton growth in the ocean.
The PACE mission will monitor the ocean and atmosphere for three years. Scientists and coastal resource managers can use the data to help forecast the health of fisheries, track harmful algal blooms, and identify changes in the marine environment.
The PACE satellite launched at 1:33 AM on February 8, 2024, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Climate, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite successfully launched and reached on Thursday, February 10th
NASA has been studying Earth since 1960, when it launched its first weather satellite, TIROS. In the 1980s, NASA began planning for an Earth-observing system to study “global change”, which includes climate change, land use, the ocean, and pollution.
NASA has been collecting data about Earth since the 1960s, and expanded its efforts in 1972 with the launch of the first Landsat satellite. NASA also provides estimates of ocean heat content from the sea surface height, which has been measured by satellite altimetry missions since the early 1990s.
In 1988, NASA scientist James Hansen told Congress and the world that global warming had arrived. Hansen predicted that 1988 would be the world’s hottest year on record, due to the burning of fossil fuels that released heat-trapping gases.
According to NASA, 2022 was the fifth warmest year on record, with global temperatures 1.6°F above the average for the baseline period of 1951-1980. NASA also says that climate change is playing an increasing role in the global decline of biodiversity.
NASA scientists use data to track ecosystem changes and develop tools for conserving life on land, in the ocean, and in freshwater ecosystems. They also monitor seasonal and longer-term droughts from space, as well as plant respiration.
According to NASA, 97% of actively publishing climate scientists agree that humans are causing global warming and climate change
According to the scientific literature, there is a strong consensus that global surface temperatures have increased in recent decades and that the trend is caused by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases.
Multiple studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals show that 97 percent or more of actively publishing climate scientists agree: Climate-warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human activities.
The United Nations says that humans are responsible for virtually all global heating over the last 200 years.
The scientific community is certain that the Earth’s climate is changing because of the trends that we see in the instrumented climate record and the changes that have been observed in physical and biological systems.
Some evidence for rapid climate change includes:
- Global temperature is rising
- The ocean is getting warmer
- The ice sheets are shrinking
- Glaciers are retreating
- Snow cover is decreasing
- Sea level is rising
- Arctic sea ice is declining
- Extreme events are increasing in frequency According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, while climate change cannot be stopped, it can be slowed. To avoid the worst consequences of climate change, we’ll need to reach “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner.
In the scientific literature, there is a very strong consensus that global surface temperatures have increased in recent decades and that the trend is caused by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases. No scientific body of national or international standing disagrees with this view
The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite is a NASA mission that studies the ocean and atmosphere. The satellite will study phytoplankton in the ocean and atmospheric aerosols to fill key climate data gaps.
The word plankton comes from the Greek word planktos, which means “drifter”. Plankton are usually microscopic, often less than one inch in length, but they also include larger species like some crustaceans and jellyfish.
Plankton is a collective name for all such organisms—including certain algae, bacteria, protozoans, crustaceans, mollusks, and coelenterates
Please like subscribe comment your precious thoughts on universe discoveries
Full article source google
Universe discoveries 