A Global Health Check To Tackle Climate Change

How much are we actually emitting, and how is climate change affecting the different parts of the world? Satellites offer answers to these two enduring questions.

Satellites are the best way of monitoring global change – satellite datasets over the last 25 years have underpinned the evidence base behind climate change. They remain our only way of accurately assessing changes in sea surface height and temperature, our melting ice caps and solar wind intensity. Increasingly, the world is turning to satellites to police our promises – to cut emissions, to safeguard biodiversity, and to save our last remaining rainforests.

Satellites are trusted technology – they are independent, accurate and global. Recent advances in satellite technology now allow policy makers to measure man-made emissions at a regional level, in real-time, providing the first global tool for monitoring compliance and assessing risks. In addition, smart radar satellites – a leading UK capability – can see through clouds and at night, and can measure sub-millimetre changes in the thickness of the ice caps.

Satellites lie at the heart of the vision of building a global monitoring system – a health check for Planet Earth. Britain’s leadership in satellite monitoring technologies can help deliver our common vision of a sustainable, low carbon society.