Greenhouse gases are substances like carbon dioxide and methane that trap heat inside our atmosphere, warming up the planet.
We know that they're increasing, and we know that the world is getting hotter. But now, a first-of-its-kind partnership between United Airlines and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will give scientists a clearer picture than ever before of what's going on.
What's happening?
This summer, United and NOAA announced a deal to equip one of United's commercial airliners, a Boeing 737, with a new set of scientific instruments. As the plane flies its normal route between cities, the instruments on the outside of the plane will collect and analyze samples of air, checking the levels of greenhouse gases.
While NOAA's Global Monitoring Laboratory already contracts with private pilots to get data from varying locations and altitudes, the number of samples it can collect is limited in part by the available budget.
But with this new partnership with United, "we'll be collecting data over multiple cities multiple times a day, in different seasons, and under varying weather conditions," said Colm Sweeney of NOAA. All of which, he added, can now be done "at just 1% of the cost of deploying research aircraft."
Why is the United x NOAA partnership important?
The wealth of data this partnership will uncover has many uses, according to NOAA.
Dr. Sarah Kapnick, NOAA's chief scientist, told Bloomberg, "This will give us a clearer picture of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere .... Having more information about what's happening in the life cycle of that molecule when it's in the atmosphere is really important for us understanding the impact it has on pollution, on weather forecasting, and climate."
Not only that but if the deal goes well, that first 737 could be just one of many commercial aircraft carrying NOAA's instruments.
"This new partnership with United is the first step in establishing a Commercial Aircraft Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Program," said NOAA's Global Monitoring Laboratory director Vanda Grubišić.
If that happens, scientists will have the data they need not just to track the gases but also to more thoroughly understand and potentially predict the weather, which will help the general public immensely.
How will this help United's overall sustainability plan?
United reported that it is the first global airline to commit to net zero (greenhouse gas) pollution by 2050 without relying on carbon offsets.
It's aiming to achieve that through small steps — like upcycling life jackets into backpacks — and big collaborations — like teaming up with other airlines to address the problem of aircraft contrails, those wispy clouds that reportedly almost double the aviation industry's contributions to our changing climate.
That initiative dovetails nicely with the United x NOAA partnership, as the instruments tracking the gases also track water vapor — which could help the company to avoid forming as many contrails in the future.
Bottom line: More data about what's going on in the atmosphere is another step toward clearer, cleaner skies.
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