Air monitoring facility set up in London

A new air monitoring facility is set to open in south-west London with a remit of improving measurements of carbon emissions and boosting development of clean technology.

The Centre for Carbon Measurement (CMM) is due to open at the National Physical Laboratory, with the launch set to coincide with the Planet Under Pressure event, which will also be hosted in the capital city.

Jane Burston, the CCM's head told BBC News: "Data from ground based stations and satellites is fed into climate models, and they spit out conclusions on things like sea level rise and other climate impacts.

"So the better data we have, the better we can make the models."

As well as providing greater accuracy of climate readings, the staff will also be looking to improve the measurement of carbon emissions. This is the only tool researchers have to predict future climate changes, and so accuracy and sustainability is crucial.

There are often wide disparities between emission levels reported by companies, and "We need to make sure that our measurement infrastructure matches our level of ambition," added Ms Burston.

Posted by Joseph Hutton