Climate change data knocked out of orbit
As President Bush prepares to tout U.S. leadership on reducing greenhouse gas emissions at tomorrow's G8 summit in Germany, there's news the White House is cutting what scientists call an essential tool for studying global warming. Sam Eaton has details.
NOAA's Carbon Tracker is a system to track carbon dioxide uptake and release at the Earth's surface over time
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TEXT OF STORY
SCOTT JAGOW: Climate change will be the big topic at tomorrow's G8 summit in Germany. President Bush will talk about the U.S. plan for cutting greenhouse gases, but he could have a PR problem. Sam Eaton reports from our Sustainability Desk.
SAM EATON: A confidential report obtained by the Associated Press reveals that the White House has drastically scaled back the U.S.'s ability to monitor climate change from space.
A new round of satellites intended to gather data like sea level rise and solar radiation will now focus solely on weather forecasting. The White House blames cost overruns.
Chet Koblinsky, who heads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's climate research program, says the satellites supply key data.
CHET KOBLINSKY: Observations are central to understanding climate change. They provide a basis of what the state of the climate is now in the context of what it's been in the past and provides a vision for what trend is it headed on.
In the leaked document government scientists say the stripped down satellites will put the U.S.'s overall climate program in serious jeopardy.
In Los Angeles, I'm Sam Eaton for Marketplace.
TEXT OF STORYSCOTT JAGOW: Climate change will be the big topic at tomorrow's G8 summit in Germany. President Bush will talk about the U.S. plan for cutting greenhouse gases, but he could have a PR problem. Sam Eaton reports from our Sustainability Desk.
SAM EATON: A confidential report obtained by the Associated Press reveals that the White House has drastically scaled back the U.S.'s ability to monitor climate change from space.
A new round of satellites intended to gather data like sea level rise and solar radiation will now focus solely on weather forecasting. The White House blames cost overruns.
Chet Koblinsky, who heads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's climate research program, says the satellites supply key data.
CHET KOBLINSKY: Observations are central to understanding climate change. They provide a basis of what the state of the climate is now in the context of what it's been in the past and provides a vision for what trend is it headed on.In the leaked document government scientists say the stripped down satellites will put the U.S.'s overall climate program in serious jeopardy.
In Los Angeles, I'm Sam Eaton for Marketplace.
