China launched an atmospheric carbon dioxide monitoring satellite on Thursday, to curb and monitor greenhouse gas emissions. The 1,400-pound satellite will measure global carbon dioxide levels every 16 days over the next three years, and help policy makers and scientists gather independent climate change data.

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The satellite, called TanSat, was sent on board a Long March-2D rocket launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert.

According to Zhang Peng, TanSat application system commander, the satellite will help China to see firsthand data of carbon dioxide emissions around the globe. Currently, only the United States and Japan have carbon-monitoring satellites, according to Xinhua. By launching the TanSat satellite to a sun-synchronous orbit roughly 435 miles from the surface of Earth, China has made a major technological achievement because, according to Zhang, observing atmospheric carbon dioxide using a satellite demands cutting-edge technology.

China is currently the world's biggest emitter of carbon dioxide. The country has seen a growth of more than five percent of carbon dioxide emissions per year in the previous decade. Despite a decrease by 0.7 per cent in 2015, cities across China, particularly Beijing, still have thick, toxic smog-rich in lung-damaging particles.

According to the Wall Street Journal, according to Ma Xiaoping, an economist at HSBC, the real problem is not the high growth rate of pollution but a lack of government supervision.

To control its greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, the Chinese government vowed to bring down its carbon dioxide emissions to between 2025 and 2030 under the Paris climate accord ratified earlier this year.

"We can now collect carbon data from all over the world, all year round, and record the carbon contributed by both developed countries and the developing countries," said Lin Chao, a researcher involved in developing the carbon dioxide detectors for TanSat. "As for China, we can have detailed analysis of emissions in different regions, provinces, and cities, thanks to the satellite."