The satellite that will 'weigh' world's 1.5 trillion trees

The world's rainforests are often referred to as the "lungs of the earth".

They store billions of tonnes of carbon and in doing so help to reduce the impacts of climate change.

But with more than one and half trillion trees, measuring exactly how much carbon they store has been virtually impossible, until now.

On Tuesday, the European Space Agency (ESA) successfully launched a first-of-a-kind satellite which uses a special radar system to reveal what lies beneath the canopy.

It is hoped it will help scientists better understand the importance of rainforests in storing carbon and the impact of deforestation.