Sea-level tracking satellite launched

[AEGeneral]

Sea-level tracking satellite launched - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

A French-US satellite, which will provide the most accurate monitoring ever of rising sea levels and track the effects of climate change, has been launched into orbit from California.

Improved technology will allow Jason 2 to achieve a sea-level measurement accuracy of within 2.5 centimetres, compared with 3.3 centimetres for its predecessor Jason 1, NASA said.


Data from previous missions showed that sea levels have risen on average by 0.3 centimetres per year since 1993, or twice as much as they did in the whole of the 20th century, according to marine measurements.


But 15 years of data is not enough to draw accurate long-term conclusions, say scientists.

Well apparently it's good enough to make predictions for the next 1,000 years like the IPCC did last year.