Copernical Team
Counting carbon
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The Paris Agreement adopted a target for global warming not to exceed 1.5°C. This sets a limit on the additional carbon we can add to the atmosphere – the carbon budget. Only around 17% of the carbon budget is now left. That is about 10 years at current emission rates.
Each country reports its annual greenhouse gas emissions to the United Nations. Scientists then set these emissions against estimates of the carbon absorbed by Earth’s natural carbon sinks. This is known as the bottom-up approach to calculating the carbon budget.
Another way to track carbon sources and sinks is
Week in images: 19 - 23 July 2021
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Week in images: 19 - 23 July 2021
Discover our week through the lens
Duneside view of ESA's technical heart
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Duneside view of ESA's technical heart Earth from Space: Tarso Toussidé, Chad
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The Tarso Toussidé volcanic massif is featured in this false-colour composite image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.
Better understanding of Earth’s atmospheric chemistry from studying Mars?
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Long-term studies of ozone and water vapour in the atmosphere of Mars could lead to better understanding of atmospheric chemistry for the Earth. A new analysis of data from ESA's Mars Express mission has revealed that our knowledge of the way these atmospheric gases interact with each other is incomplete.
Scientists determine Mars crustal thickness
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Based on the analysis of marsquakes recorded by NASA's InSight mission, the structure of Mars's crust has now been determined in absolute numbers for the first time. Beneath the InSight landing site, the crust is either approximately 20 or 39 kilometers thick. That is the result of an international research team led by geophysicist Dr.
InSight mission: Mars unveiled
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Using information obtained from around a dozen earthquakes detected on Mars by the Very Broad Band SEIS seismometer, developed in France, the international team of NASA's InSight mission has unveiled the internal structure of Mars. The three papers published on July 23, 2021 in the journal Science, involving numerous co-authors from French institutions and laboratories, including the CNRS, the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, and Université de Paris, and supported in particular by the French space agency CNES and the French National Research Agency ANR, provide, for the first time, an estimate of the size of the planet's core, the thickness of its crust and the structure of its mantle, based on the analysis of seismic waves reflected and modified by interfaces in its interior. It makes this the first ever seismic exploration of the internal structure of a terrestrial planet other than Earth, and an important step towards understanding the formation and thermal evolution of Mars.
Expanding space fuels global growth in patent filings
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The explosive growth in space activity in recent years is observed through a new lens in the pages of a major study of global and European space-related patents. At the same time as membership of the global space club increases, and yearly number of space launches goes on growing, a steepening of patent filings in both Europe and across the world suggest a maturing market, as key players seek to defend their intellectual assets.
Picture-frame-sized CubeSat antenna reaches orbit
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An ESA project has developed satellite antenna the size of a small picture frame, intended for miniature CubeSats. Built by Polish company WiRan the antenna found its first customer as soon as it was finalised, and is already serving in space.
Space-based connectivity comes another step closer
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A world in which people can connect to one another instantly and reliably through space-enabled laser communications has just come closer. A study has now identified how to create high-speed broadband in space.