NASA to Research Climate Change in Costa Rica May 10, 2007
San Jose, Costa Rica The skies over Costa Rica will be busy later this summer. The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced it has signed an agreement with representatives of the country's National Center for High Technology (CENAT) and will make Costa Rica its base of operations for research on the impact of tropical clouds on global warming. During July and August, three NASA airplanes will circle the skies above Costa Rica and Panama, collecting atmospheric data. CENAT director Pedro León said the planes will be operated from a NASA hanger at Juan Santamaría International Airport, just northwest of San José, and that this will be the largest mission carried out by NASA outside the U.S. In addition to the airplanes, NASA will send 230 scientists and technicians to work on the mission, which will cost an estimated $20 million. The goal is to observe descending and ascending air currents along the coasts of Costa Rica and the Gulf of Panama in order to better understand how these currents could contribute to global warming. Another study will be to determine how the ice crystals of cirrus clouds affect heat escaping the earth's surface. Your Latin America Insider, Suzan Haskins
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