Environmental Atlas of Europe’ unveiled at COP15
In support of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
taking place in Copenhagen, the European Environment Agency hosted the
'Bend the Trend' event on Sunday evening to provide a global climate
networking platform and premiere the screening of the new
'Environmental Atlas of Europe'.
The 'Environmental Atlas of
Europe', a joint project of the European Environment Agency (EEA), the
UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and ESA, is a series of short films
showing the significance of environmental change depicted in
comparisons of stunning satellite images through the years and the
different ways people are responding to these changes.
ESA provided a variety of up-to-date, captivating satellite images and
products from various European satellites. These range from ship ice
roads in the Baltic Sea to the river systems of Albania, from a
gigantic plankton bloom off the Irish coast to the reduction of
agricultural land in south-east Georgia. Each of these images will help
to make the viewer understand the environmental, scientific and
political issues we are facing today.
Opening the event, EEA Executive Director Jacqueline McGlade said that
ecosystem-accounting mechanisms are the only viable solution in the
long term for protecting our environment and named satellite data as
the unique comprehensive sources of ecosystem monitoring. She also said
satellite data from ESA, including the future Sentinel missions whose
data are expected to be open and freely accessible, will be crucial for
ecosystem managers in Europe and worldwide.
ESA's Director of Earth Observation Volker Liebig, who spoke at the
event, said: "The advantages satellites offer are evident: only from
space do we have a truly global view. Satellites fly over literally
every corner of the surface of our planet. They measure diverse
parameters, from sea surface temperatures to movements in the solid
Earth, from gases in the atmosphere to land cover, and much more. They
do this repeatedly, day and night, 24 hours a day, for years. The data
we receive from space are a key contribution to the information we need
to tackle climate change.
Contact information | n/a |
---|---|
News type | Inbrief |
File link |
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Space_for_our_climate/SEMK7S9J33G_0.html |
Source of information | ESA |
Subject(s) | INFORMATION - COMPUTER SCIENCES , METHTODOLOGY - STATISTICS - DECISION AID , NATURAL MEDIUM , RISKS AND CLIMATOLOGY |
Geographical coverage | Europe |
News date | 14/12/2009 |
Working language(s) | ENGLISH |