The Planetary Skin
What happens to Earth when a forest is razed or energy use
soars? We don't know because environmental data are collected
by isolated sources, making it impossible to see the whole
picture. With the theory that you can't manage what you can't
measure, NASA and Cisco have teamed up to develop Planetary
Skin, a global "nervous system" that will integrate
land-, sea-, air- and space-based sensors, helping the public
and private sectors make decisions to prevent and adapt to
climate change. The pilot project — a prototype is due
by 2010 — will track how much carbon is held by rain
forests and where.
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