A Year In The Life Of Earth’s CO2

  • Released Monday, November 17, 2014
View full credits

An ultra-high-resolution NASA computer model has given scientists a stunning new look at how carbon dioxide in the atmosphere travels around the globe.

Plumes of carbon dioxide in the simulation swirl and shift as winds disperse the greenhouse gas away from its sources. The simulation also illustrates differences in carbon dioxide levels in the northern and southern hemispheres and distinct swings in global carbon dioxide concentrations as the growth cycle of plants and trees changes with the seasons.

The carbon dioxide visualization was produced by a computer model called GEOS-5, created by scientists at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office.

The visualization is a product of a simulation called a “Nature Run.” The Nature Run ingests real data on atmospheric conditions and the emission of greenhouse gases and both natural and man-made particulates. The model is then left to run on its own and simulate the natural behavior of the Earth’s atmosphere. This Nature Run simulates January 2006 through December 2006.

While Goddard scientists worked with a “beta” version of the Nature Run internally for several years, they released this updated, improved version to the scientific community for the first time in the fall of 2014.

Narrated video - Jan. 1, 2006 - Dec. 31, 2006

For complete transcript, click here.

Visualization - Jan. 1, 2006 - Dec. 31, 2006

North America - Feb. 1 - 28, 2006

Africa - Aug. 1 - 31, 2006

Himalayas - Feb. 1 - 28, 2006

Still image - Jan. 1, 2006

Still image - Jan. 1, 2006

Still image - North America - Feb. 12, 2006

Still image - North America - Feb. 12, 2006

Visualization without annotation - Jan. 1, 2006 - Dec. 31, 2006

For More Information

See the following sources:

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

This page was originally published on Monday, November 17, 2014.
This page was last updated on Sunday, December 15, 2024 at 12:15 AM EST.

Series

This page can be found in the following series: