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Whitehouse Moves to Destroy Satellite That Monitors Greenhouse Gases
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- fnordpiglet 1y ago[flagged]
- idontwantthis 1y agoWas that ever not obvious?
- abrookewood 1y ago[flagged]
- lupinglade 1y agoPathetic.
- arunc 1y agoPeople get what they ask for! :-(
- ChrisArchitect 1y ago[dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44799468 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44799468 Source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44796597 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44796597
- chrisco255 1y agoThis is a bombastic title that has become common on HN as of late. CO2 is primarily measured from ground based instrumentation including especially the Mauna Loa Observatory under NOAA. These satellites aren't even very precise in measuring CO2 as they are measuring reflected sunlight.
- postflopclarity 1y agowhy destroy them?
- chrisco255 1y agoPlease see my sibling reply. The data is very inaccurate, it can only scan in 10km tracks, it can't see through clouds (2/3 of the earth's atmosphere at any given time), and so the data it puts out is coaxed into a model, which provide us with nothing we don't already know from ground based instrumentation.
- panja 1y agoDid you read the NPR article? There are more uses than that. Wouldn't it make sense to continuing using it after we invested so heavily into it?
- kashunstva 1y ago> The data is very inaccurate… And that’s the reason they are being destroyed? I find it difficult to believe that the U.S. president has the ability or attention span to parse a fraction of this. And the same seems to apply to a majority of the next layer of decision makers in government. Irrespective of the data quality issues which I have no expertise in, the motivation for this move is important. I understand that whether the satellites are being commissioned for data quality and efficiency issues, or whether they are being shut down for anti-scientific political reasons, they will stop functioning. But if it is the latter, it helps U.S. voters understand the depths of the anti-science, indeed anti-truth orientation of this administration. They have already shown a preference for firing personnel who are oriented toward actual numbers.
- nielsbot 1y agoNot according to this sibling comment, above: > According to your source, the satellite provides the most complete dataset.
- aredox 1y ago>An official review by NASA in 2023 [0] found that "the data are of exceptionally high quality" and recommended continuing the mission for at least three years. [0]https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023-nasa-essr-fullreport-final.pdf?emrc=ad85a1 https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023-nas...
- vixen99 1y agohttps://www.nber.org/papers/w29320 https://www.nber.org/papers/w29320
- SilentTiger 1y agoThat's we called democracy.
- DerekL 1y agoTitle is misspelled, should be “White House” (two words).
- throawaywpg 1y agoYes...I thought this was about the band Whitehouse at first
- Clor 1y agoAlthough sad, at least the European Union is ready to replace these with the CO2M constellation (originally Sentinel 7) to be launched in 2026. It will have a higher resolution, higher quality, and broader coverage.
- jmclnx 1y agoIn the long run I fear it does not matter. The fossil fuel "won" by prioritizing profits over the environment. IMO, the world is heading straight to +3C and no way to stop it. We could probably prevent 3.5C, but by then the world will probably be in a massive "war" footing due the 1 billion+ people migration north. Assuming civilization did not collapse.
- gmuslera 1y agoWe are about to not be the main drivers of change. I won’t be so optimistic about it stopping at 3, 3.5 °C or whatever near enough. What may change is how fast we will get there, but we already are reaching the limit set for the end of the century 10 years ago.
- xtiansimon 1y agoOCO-2 was launched in 2014. We’re at 11 years service. What was the project’s service time goal? Was the original goal achieved? I get the administration is using its power to shock and dismay its opponents and feed red meat to its base. But if this satellite was hit by Elon’s Tesla coup and destroyed, would we not say we reached our goals?