|
The launch
follows the United States joining China in formally ratifying
the Paris agreement to curb climate-warming emissions. It also
comes as large sections of northern China have been shrouded in
near-record levels of air pollution for most of the past week,
disrupting flights, closing factories and schools, and forcing
authorities to issue red alerts.
China launched the satellite via a Long March-2D rocket from
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the northwestern Gobi Desert,
Xinhua said.
The 620 kg (1,370 lbs) satellite TanSat was sent into a sun
synchronous orbit about 700 km (435 miles) above the earth and
will monitor the concentration, distribution and flow of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere, said Yin Zengshan, chief designer of
TanSat at the Chinese Academy of Sciences micro-satellite
research institute.
The launch comes after an international study showed that world
greenhouse gas emissions stayed flat for the third year in a row
in 2016, thanks to falls in China.
The satellite will provide China's policymakers with independent
data for three years, the news agency said.
TanSat will take readings of global carbon dioxide every 16
days, accurate to at least 4 parts per million.
The rocket carrying TanSat also carried a high-resolution
micro-nano satellite and two spectrum micro-nano satellites for
agricultural and forestry monitoring, the agency added.
China is the third country after Japan and the United States to
monitor greenhouse gases with its own satellite, the agency
said.
(Reporting by Engen Tham)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
