| Remote Sensing
The use of satellites to control and power scientific instruments has
lead to powerful new data sources for the analysis of the earth's environmental
patterns. The combination of the various remote sensing work and more
traditional techniques of on the ground sampling and historical records
allows scientists to construct the climate change models that inform our
ongoing mitigation strategies.
Atmosphere
Unmanned weather and atmospheric sampling dataloggers pepper the globe;
these devices whether they are moored in the ocean or tethered high up
in the atmosphere suspended by helium balloons all report their data for
collation and analysis.
Soils
Data suggests that temperature changes may already be causing natural
carbon sequestration sequestration in temperate soils to reverse, creating
a net loss which could negate any achievement towards Kyoto targets. Increased
temperatures and rainfall coupled with less direct sunlight will affect
both global agricultural practices and local ecologies.
Oceans
The physical changes which may manifest in the character and dynamics
of our future oceans is perhaps the most important impact of climate change
that researchers must focus. Oceanographers work with atmospheric specialists
and soil scientists in order to better predict sea level changes, current
circulation alteration as well as the complex and inter-related gas and
water exchange mechanisms.
Cryosphere
Alongside the melting of the world’s glaciers, sea ice and icecaps,
a million square miles of frozen peat bog in northern Russia shows signs
of melting, threatening a global surge of methane. The satellite CryoSat,
launched in October 2005 but failed to gain an orbitary position
was designed to capture data on ice thickness. CryoSat was equipped
with remote sensing technology dedicated to assessing the thickness of
our ice sheets- a crucial area of data needed for climate modelling. It
is hoped this set back will be addressed with a "CryoSat 2".
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