Another Earth satellite, the “Aura” will be launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, on Tuesday. It is the third in the NASA’s series of satellites aimed at providing hard data on the global environment. The first two global environment satellites, “Terra” and “Aqua”, gather information about the ground and the oceans. Aura will concentrate on the atmosphere, looking at gases, pollutants, and chemical reactions.

The 3 ton satellite will be used to test whether the Montreal Protocol to repair the ozone layer is working. While it SEEMS to be working, Aura will provide accurate numbers one way or another. Another of Aura’s roles is to assess the role of tiny particles in the atmosphere. These particles, containing sulphur or carbon, come from natural sources, such as volcanoes, and from human sources, such as coal, oil, and gasoline burning.

If Aura can provide the data needed to by scientists to understand clearly what these aerosols are doing, the costs of effectively reducing air pollution can be minimized, or with the same amount of money, the air quality can be improved more.

Effectively using the information is a political event, not a scientific one.

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Eudaimonia