Fuelling the climate crisis

It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. Through the mass burning of fossil fuels and biomass, humanity is increasing the proportion of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Going by scientists’ current best models, the average global temperature could increase by anything from 1.5 to 5°C by the century’s end. With nations at COP26 climate conference in 2021 pledging net-zero emissions by 2050, the pressure is on to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we pump into the atmosphere – but the race is also on to support the monitoring that shows targets are being met. The Copernicus Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Monitoring mission will provide the EU with a unique and independent source of information to assess the effectiveness of policy measures, and to track their impact towards decarbonising Europe and meeting national emission reduction targets.