NASA Discovers HUGE Gap in Climate Change Knowledge (Just Launched This Satellite to Fix It!)
NASA launched a tiny satellite to measure heat loss from Earth’s poles for the first time. This data will improve climate models by providing real-world observations, not just estimates. The mission, named PREFIRE, will help scientists understand how heat moves around the planet and how factors like ice melt affect it.
CONTENTS: NASA Discovers HUGE Gap in Climate Change
NASA Satellite Studies Polar Heat Loss
-NASA Discovers HUGE Gap in Climate Change
A small NASA satellite was launched on Saturday from New Zealand with the mission of enhancing climate change predictions by measuring the heat escaping from Earth’s poles for the first time. “This new data – which we’ve never had before – will enhance our capability to model polar activities and overall climate dynamics,” stated Karen St Germain, NASA’s earth sciences research director, during a news conference.
The satellite, about the size of a shoebox, was launched using an Electron rocket made by Rocket Lab. This mission, named PREFIRE, aims to capture infrared measurements high above the Arctic and Antarctic to directly measure the heat released from the poles into space. “The transfer of heat from tropical regions to the polar areas is essentially what drives all weather patterns on the planet,” explained Tristan L’Ecuyer, a mission researcher from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
PREFIRE will help NASA understand how clouds, humidity, and the melting of ice into water influence heat loss from the poles.
Climate Models Lacked Real Data
L’Ecuyer mentioned that, up until now, climate change models estimating heat loss were based on theoretical calculations rather than actual observations. St Germain added that small satellites like this one are cost-effective “specialists” designed to address very specific scientific questions.
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