Satellite Observations Contributing to Global Earth System Monitoring

This was an exciting presentation because it included Nobel Bell Prize Recipient, Paul Crutzen, who received the prize for his work on ozone chemistry in the atmosphere. However the presentation seemed a bit much for Mr. Crutzen who was a very nice old man but who probably wasn’t in his best shape to give a large presentation at COP, but we were all very gracious of his efforts. He actually coined the term for the latest geological era the Anthropocene due to the large effect human have on the global environment in modern years. Most of the speakers for this event simply presented on some of the chemicals being measured by their satellites and the importance of have a system set up for continuous monitoring so when one satellite goes out of commission we have another to keep the data stream coming. Much of this data is important in modeling climate and understanding future patterns for storm intensity, cloud albedo –feedback, and precipitation patterns. They also touched upon how satellite can play important role in monitoring changes in forestry. They also mentioned the possibility of geoengineering schemes but those should only be implemented when we pass the threshold of 2-3 degrees of warming.