Launch Of Tanager-1:
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched the Tanager-1 satellite to detect major emitters of carbon dioxide and methane.
- Tanager-1 will use imaging spectrometer technology to measure wavelengths of light that are reflected by Earth’s surface.
Methane and Carbon dioxide absorb different wavelengths of light, leaving spectral “fingerprints” that the imaging spectrometer can identify. - It will be able to measure point-source emissions, down to the level of individual facilities and equipment, on a global scale.
- Earlier, NASA had launched MethaneSAT which tracks and measures methane emissions.
- Methane: Methane is a strong greenhouse gas and the second largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide. It is responsible for 30% of global heating.
- According to the United Nations Environment Programme, over a period of 20 years, it is 80 times more potent at warming than carbon dioxide.
- It also contributes to the formation of ground-level ozone, a colourless and highly irritating gas that forms just above the Earth’s surface.
