Orbiting Carbon Observatory Could Have Played Significant Role in Monitoring Emissions

July 31 -- Current methods for estimating greenhouse gas emissions have limitations that make it difficult to monitor CO2 emissions and verify an international climate treaty, says a new report from the National Research Council. NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, which failed to launch in February, would have offered proof that these emissions could be monitored from space, as well as provided baseline data on CO2 emission trends from cities and power plants. NASA is expected to decide in the coming months whether to launch a replacement observatory.

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