Launch of satellite to track sea levels delayed

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

PARIS (AFP) — The launch of a US-French satellite that will track rising sea levels and ocean currents, scheduled for June 15, has been delayed, the French national space agency (CNES) said Wednesday.

A new date for the California launch of Jason 2 will be set by NASA in the near future, the agency announced in a statement.

Rising sea levels is one of the most serious consequences of global warming, threatening dozens of island nations and massively populated delta regions, especially in Asia and Africa.

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

But 15 years of data is not enough to draw accurate...