|
|
|
| Current Issue |
|
|
| Resources |
|
|
|
Exploring Planet Earth From Space
| Article
# : |
10916 |
|
|
Section : |
Natural Science
|
| Issue
Date : |
7 / 1986 |
4,010 Words |
| Author
: |
Charles Sheffield
Charles Sheffield is the author of several science fiction
novels as well as numerous articles and essays on physics and
space science. |
The surface area of the Earth covers about 200 million square miles--70 million of land and 130 million of water. Much of that surface is almost inaccessible, or inhospitable, and not densely populated. Yet the value of mapping the whole Earth, assaying its resources, and monitoring its condition has long been recognized.
Doing so with any regularity, however, was quite impossible just one generation ago. Only by calling on the unique global perspective offered by space platforms and by employing new instruments that have become available in the last two decades can the task be accomplished. For the past fourteen years, a series of specially designed spacecraft have been doing the job continuously, providing a survey of most of the world's lands and seas every few weeks.
This new technology, which is still being developed, promises vast economic and social benefits. But, like many other technologies at the cutting edge of progress, it raises profound questions and problems. To what extent could this newly acquired ability to look down on every nation and analyze its resources be diverted to illegitimate uses? Questions of this nature and other matters associated with global remote sensing will need to be resolved in the years immediately ahead.
The desirability and need for global resource inventories and mentoring have long been internationally recognized. That recognition has grown as our understanding of the interrelations of different parts of the environment and of the environmental sensitivity to human activities has grown. For example, industrial emissions in the United States may cause acid rain in Canada; the clearing of tropical jungles may lead to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide, with subsequent higher average temperatures causing the shrinking of polar icecaps and a rise in ocean level with flooding of coastal plains; or intensive agriculture in the Sahel region of Africa may encourage the southward spread of the Sahara desert.
The pressure to discover new resources has increased with the burgeoning world population. The whole land surface of the Earth is today being evaluated for potential crop-growing areas; the search for petroleum and minerals goes on worldwide, and the condition of rangelands, forests, coastal zones, and urban areas has become increasingly important.
The Spacecraft
The first spacecraft designed to
...
Read Full Article
Look for this article in Ask.com
|
|
