Breaking News English

A U.S.-French satellite has been launched with a mission [to / for] map all the world's oceans, lakes, [reservoirs / reserves] rivers and other waterways. The satellite has been [dabbed / dubbed] SWOT - Surface Water and Ocean Topography. It went into space just before [drawn / dawn] on Friday. Scientists hope [datum / data] from the satellite will help them to monitor how climate change is [conversely / adversely] changing water levels. The U.S. broadcaster PBS said: "The satellite is needed more than [ever / never] , as climate change worsens [droughts / draughts] , flooding and coastal erosion." A NASA spokesperson spoke of the mission's importance. She said: "It's a [pivotal / pivot] moment....We're going to see Earth's water like we've never seen [it / all] before."

The SWOT satellite is about the size of an SUV (sports [utility / utilized] vehicle). It took 20 years to develop, at a cost [of / up] $1.2 billion. High-[precise / precision] radar equipment will measure the height of water on more than 90 per cent of Earth's surface. It will [survey / scurvy] millions of lakes, as well as 2.1 million kilometres of rivers. Scientists will [indemnify / identify] potential areas [to / of] water loss that could [treat / threaten] local populations and coastlines. NASA said SWOT is a marked technological upgrade [from / up] its predecessors. A spokesperson said: "SWOT will give us a ten-fold improvement [on / in] the accuracy and spatial resolution of our measurements of water height." It will help scientists to better understand, "the [critique / critical] role the oceans play in climate change".