The satellite will help study climate change by taking pictures. We'll see what's developing on today's EnvironMinute. The satellite is called Sea-wiffs. It will help scientists study how the planet might be heating up by tracking the movement of carbon through the atmosphere and ocean. This carbon cycle is critical to the Earth's climate.
Cars emit carbon in the form of carbon dioxide, a gas identified with global warming.
In the ocean, plankton take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to live. Sea-wiffs will study carbon in the sea by photographing its color water color is a good indicator of plankton concentration. Scientists can estimate how much carbon dioxide is being removed from those plankton measurements. Thanks to the high technology of Sea-wiffs and its plankton partners, we should be one step closer to learning the truth about the effect we're having on our planet's atmosphere. The EnvironMinute is produced in cooperation with the National Safety Council and made possible by the Teresa and H. John Heinz III Foundation.