Satellite Earth observations in support of climate information challenges. Special COP 21 edition
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UNCCD Library
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ebook
To meet the objective of 2°C, we need to start by breaking the emissions spiral by 2020 and then reduce
our greenhouse gas emissions by at least a factor of two, ideally three, between 2020 and 2050 to achieve carbon neutrality – i.e., zero net carbon emissions – by the end of the century. The best way to view the problem is to look at our energy requirements, which currently are met largely by burning fossil fuels.
To reach the long-term 2°C target, we need to keep nearly 80% of fossil fuel reserves obtainable with current technologies and costs in the ground. We must not use more than 20% of these easily accessible reserves. Seen in that light, it is obvious that we need to completely rethink our current development model.Satellite data have truly revolutionized how we see the climate system. The most striking example is sea level, which is currently rising at a rate of 3mm a year. Satellite measurements at the polar ice caps and on temperate glaciers have shown that roughly half of this rise is due to ice melt.
Slightly less than the remaining half results from expansion of the warming ocean, which stores 93% of excess heat. The remaining proportion comes from extracted groundwater, which obviously ends up in the sea; it is
not huge, but it accounts for 13% of sea level rise all the same. Satellite data enable us to precisely calculate these different contributions.
This report explores how satellite EO can contribute to the challenges of providing the information that society needs in order to accurately characterise the nature of changes to our climate and to help define the most cost-effective strategies for mitigation and adaptation. Satellite EO data have already proven to be fundamental to the development of the evidence that has persuaded governments to act. Satellite EO data will continue to be an essential source of evidence necessary for informed decision-making, supporting the science that underpins climate policies.
The report has been compiled in support of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference – the 21st Conference of
the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP21) – to help
develop a broader understanding of the fundamental importance of satellite EO to the information needed
to inform our climate policies on all scales.
our greenhouse gas emissions by at least a factor of two, ideally three, between 2020 and 2050 to achieve carbon neutrality – i.e., zero net carbon emissions – by the end of the century. The best way to view the problem is to look at our energy requirements, which currently are met largely by burning fossil fuels.
To reach the long-term 2°C target, we need to keep nearly 80% of fossil fuel reserves obtainable with current technologies and costs in the ground. We must not use more than 20% of these easily accessible reserves. Seen in that light, it is obvious that we need to completely rethink our current development model.Satellite data have truly revolutionized how we see the climate system. The most striking example is sea level, which is currently rising at a rate of 3mm a year. Satellite measurements at the polar ice caps and on temperate glaciers have shown that roughly half of this rise is due to ice melt.
Slightly less than the remaining half results from expansion of the warming ocean, which stores 93% of excess heat. The remaining proportion comes from extracted groundwater, which obviously ends up in the sea; it is
not huge, but it accounts for 13% of sea level rise all the same. Satellite data enable us to precisely calculate these different contributions.
This report explores how satellite EO can contribute to the challenges of providing the information that society needs in order to accurately characterise the nature of changes to our climate and to help define the most cost-effective strategies for mitigation and adaptation. Satellite EO data have already proven to be fundamental to the development of the evidence that has persuaded governments to act. Satellite EO data will continue to be an essential source of evidence necessary for informed decision-making, supporting the science that underpins climate policies.
The report has been compiled in support of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference – the 21st Conference of
the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP21) – to help
develop a broader understanding of the fundamental importance of satellite EO to the information needed
to inform our climate policies on all scales.
Keywords
space-based observations
forest degradation
decision making
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