New satellite launched to measure carbon stocks in tropical forests [SOUND]

# The European Space Agency has launched a first-of-its-kind Biomass satellite, designed to measure carbon stocks in tropical forests. Researchers have been struggling to grasp how much carbon is stored in the world’s forests, and how these stocks are changing in response to factors like the increase in temperature. Tropical forest accounts for 75-percent of global carbon dioxide absorption. University of Edinburgh’s professor, Mathew Williams, told STV News that the Biomass satellite is designed for a mission of at least five years: