China launches carbon-tracking satellite

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Dec 23, 2016 06:00 am

BEIJING: China yesterday launched a satellite to monitor carbon dioxide levels, state media said, making the Asian giant the third country to track the potent contributor to global warming from space, after the US and Japan.

The TanSat probe will allow China to keep a close eye on greenhouse gas emissions and give it a "louder voice" in future negotiations on carbon reduction, said the official Xinhua news agency.

The technology will "trace the sources of greenhouse gases and help evaluate whether countries are fulfilling their commitments" to reduce pollutants under environmental pacts, it said.

The launch comes after US president-elect Donald Trump, an avowed climate change sceptic, reportedly threatened to gut the US space agency Nasa's climate change monitoring programme.

In another development, five districts in Beijing have announced plans to cap or lower their population in the next few years, local media reported on Wednesday, as the Chinese capital bids to tackle chronic pollution and congestion. - AFP