Satellites could help track if nations keep their carbon pledges

The researchers said that by plugging satellite measurements of CO2 into an Earth-systems model, they were able to detect small reductions in atmospheric concentration of the gas over the US

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming, nations must measure and report progress toward their pledged reductions in emissions. They regularly submit greenhouse gas inventories, detailing emission sources as well as removals, or sinks, of the gases. These are then reviewed by technical experts.

One new project, Climate Trace, which former US Vice President Al Gore described at an event alongside the COP26 summit in Glasgow, uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyse satellite imagery and sensor data to come up with what it says are accurate emissions estimates in near-real time.

But Nasa researchers and colleagues Wednesday reported what they called a milestone toward a different goal: measuring the actual changes in carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. The researchers said that by plugging satellite measurements of CO2 into an Earth-systems model, they were able to detect small reductions in atmospheric concentration of the gas over the United States and other areas that were a result of coronavirus lockdowns in early 2020.

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