NASA simulation highlights how CO2 spreads in the earth's atmosphere

NASA simulation highlights how CO2 spreads in the earth's atmosphere [1]

This recently released NASA simulation of the global atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) cycle offers a powerful counterpoint to the Trump team’s push to marginalize climate change research.

The visualization conveys the message that rising concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide on Earth will produce thermostat-like effects. It also seeks answers to questions such as how land and ocean absorbs the greenhouse gas and what will happen when it reaches a point of saturation. It shows 50 percent of human-made emissions staying in the atmosphere, while 25 percent goes to the oceans with the other 25 percent being absorbed by land vegetation.

It shows atmospheric CO2 circulating around the world in unprecedented detail across a year-long timescale, from September 1, 2014 and August 31, 2015. The choice to depict Earth’s surface as a flattened map projection makes the whole thing seem like a scene inside a snowglobe, with the festive snowflakes subbed out for toxic greenhouse gas emissions.

The data for the video has been taken from NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 satellite that tracks atmospheric CO2 on a regional scale.

There are concerns that some sinks that absorb carbon dioxide could lose their ability to sequester carbon as the climate changes. The Amazon rainforest, for example, sucks up about a quarter of all carbon dioxide absorbed by vegetation, but there are signs that a drying trend has been hampering that ability.

Publication Date:

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Author(s): Lalit Maurya [2]

Source: India Environment Portal [3]

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