The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, more commonly known as NASA, is well known around the world for its many innovations in space technology. Now, NASA is branching out to focus more on our own planet. They wish to focus more on the aspects of climate change, rather than space exploration. NASA continues to make great strides in technological advancements and recently met to discuss the insights the advancements could provide.

Climate change is a pressing issue that affects everything on our planet. It disrupts our weather, causes higher temperatures and raises ocean levels. In addition, another less direct effect of climate change is the increasing number and devastation of wildfires. All of this is caused by a few main contributors such as the carbon emissions from large corporations and the mismanagement of our natural resources. NASA hopes to lessen these factors by providing accountability and better data.

On October 7th, NASA met with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and California’s government to draft a plan to improve the systems in place preventing global warming. California is especially affected by climate change due to the wildfires that continuously occur. California also recorded it’s hottest summer ever this year. Terrible drought conditions only add fuel to the fire. Without large-scale partners like NASA and JPL and extensive resources, California’s conditions can only worsen.

By using technology, such as advanced satellites and imagery, NASA can monitor water processes, allowing them to get a deeper understanding of the way water cycles through Earth and how it can be most efficiently used. Additionally, NASA is looking to monitor methane emissions. This will hold corporations accountable and will promote efficient energy usage. NASA wants to make the most of our resources as they continuously dwindle. New tools can also help with combatting forest fires, as emerging technology can use the direction of the wind to predict the direction of embers. NASA is also pairing with other space organizations to create better tools and technology. Pairing up with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO),  NASA can reach a global scale and monitor Earth’s patterns and discrepancies.

Many concerns came up, however, regarding NASA’s own carbon footprint with space missions. In response, NASA claims that their future projects are going to be smaller scale. Despite climate change being a pressing issue for years, NASA is making great strides and is a big step in the right direction.

[1] https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-releases-climate-action-plan 

[2]https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-10-18/nasa-turns-technology-back-toward-earth-to-focus-on-climate-change