The European Space Agency (ESA) has now sent a sizable umbrella-shaped vessel into space to gather crucial data about climate change and global warming, rather than to stop rain.

The ESA’s recently launched mission has a different goal within the same field of study, but experimental research to prevent sunlight from reaching the Earth as a way to reduce global warming was just recently permitted.

One of the most urgent problems confronting our world right now is undoubtedly climate change, as scientists warn that if dangerous emissions aren’t reduced in the next years, we’re going to approach a “tipping point” that will be difficult to control.

The ESA’s most recent study could provide important information that helps us comprehend the impacts of deforestation on our planet, even though many rightly believe that nothing will happen if wider polluting behaviours aren’t prevented in a large-scale attempt to move to greener energy options.

As the Metro reported, the ESA mission ‘Biomass’ launched an umbrella-shaped spacecraft into orbit to quantify the ‘weight’ of jungles and rainforests, particularly with regard to their carbon effect.

Because of how much carbon dioxide they absorb and release into the atmosphere, forests are frequently referred to as the world’s “green lungs.” However, when they are cut down for deforestation (often in activities that have wider polluting repercussions), this carbon is released into the atmosphere.

The precise impact of this carbon release on our planet in relation to global warming is now unknown, but with biomass, this might finally be assessed.

With its P-band synthetic aperture radar, the umbrella-shaped craft, which is around 12 meters wide, enables scientists to produce three-dimensional (3D) maps of forests.

The biomass and height of the forest are then revealed, enhancing our understanding of habitat degradation and its consequences for biodiversity worldwide. The radar will precisely measure the trunks, branches, and stems—areas where carbon is stored—helping to determine the actual impacts of tree removal in certain regions.

According to an ESA statement, “a major challenge for scientists and policymakers is the lack of accurate data on how much carbon forests store and how these stocks are changing owing to factors such as rising temperatures, increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, and human-driven land-use changes.”

But thanks to biomass, this can now be researched and, ideally, used to stop deforestation attempts or at the very least, comprehend the actual environmental effects of these actions.