US 'CO2 hunter' set for lift-off

Nasa is all set to launch its first mission dedicated to measuring carbon dioxide (CO2) from space. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) will help pinpoint the key locations on our planet's surface where the gas is being emitted and absorbed. CO2's increased concentration in the atmosphere will lead to global climate change, say the major institutions and agencies that study Earth sciences. The OCO data is intended to help forecast that change more accurately. Currently, carbon dioxide is regularly sampled at about a hundred sites around the world. The new satellite will be taking roughly 30,000 readings on each orbit. This mass of information should help the OCO science team pinpoint the so-called sources (where CO2 comes from) and sinks (where CO2 is pulled out of the atmosphere by land and ocean processes, and stored) of carbon dioxide. Scientists have calculated that Nature cycles about 330 billion tonnes of carbon every year...BBC News