Diplomats and officials from 90 nations have agreed to share thousands of observations from satellites, airplanes and ground sensing equipment about our planet for a second decade.
An intergovernmental organization known as Group on Earth Observations, or GEO, which was established in February 2005, says it won unanimous approval Friday to share open data from space, airborne and ground observations for another 10 years.
The European environment commissioner, Janez Potocnik, said the data will help inform decision-making about agriculture, biodiversity, climate, disasters, ecosystems, energy, health, water and weather.
China's science and technology vice minister, Cao Jianlin, says his country is partnering with 46 others in GEO to measure natural and human effects on the carbon cycle, the first such coordinated effort at the global level.
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