Japanese Satellite to Help World Bank Climate Projects in Latin America

Washington, April 17 (Jiji Press)–The World Bank on Thursday agreed with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to make use of data obtained by a Japanese advanced land observation satellite to help formulate measures to cope with climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The World Bank will use high resolution photos of land cover taken by agency’s Daichi satellite to observe, among others, how the global warming is affecting ecosystems in the Caribbean Sea and glaciers in the Andes.

It hopes the satellite will contribute to mapping out of climate change adaptation projects in Colombia, Mexico and the Andes region of Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, as well as the West Indies, according to the Work Bank.

The data from the Daichi will also be provided to local administrative bodies so that they can develop infrastructure to help the Caribbean-Latin American region adapt to climate change.

“Climate change impacts will impose a heavy tax on the economies of the region, in particular on the poor,” Laura Tuck, World Bank regional director for Sustainable Development for Latin America and the Caribbean, said.

“Adaptation to climate change is key given the severe and largely irreversible effects in the region.”

The 4-ton Daichi satellite is one of the biggest satellites in orbit. It is capable of obtaining three-dimensional data on ground surface with 2.5-meter spatial resolution.END

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