Japan launched a satellite measuring greenhouse gases

Japan has successfully launched the world's first aerospace monitoring satellite in an effort to combat climate change.

The Japan Space Exploration Agency (JAXA) said the greenhouse gas observation satellite named Ibuki left the launch pad from the Tanegashima space center, south of the country, on Friday on H2A boosters. The satellite escaped the rocket 16 minutes later.

Ibuki is the first satellite to collect information about carbon dioxide and methane at 56,000 points on the surface of the earth. This is the impressive ability of this project worth more than $ 370 million because the world has only 282 locations to observe greenhouse gases on the ground.

Ibuki is expected to operate on orbit for a period of 5 years and collect data once a month. The first data provided by this satellite will be received by researchers in April or May. The launch of the device took place when Japan was under pressure to implement the goal of the Kyoto Protocol for the period of 2008-2012 on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Meanwhile, the US space agency (NASA) is also sponsoring the Carbon Observatory on its own orbit, scheduled to launch this year to collect data on carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere. .