Animation shows what the world would look like if you could see carbon dioxide emissions
- Media Manager
- Jun 25, 2023
- 1 min read
phys.org via Universe Today
Written By: Carolyn Collins Petersen
Published: June 26th, 2023
It's a strange, eerie-looking place. Carbon dioxide gas appears… and disappears in cycles and bursts throughout the year. It's how our planet would look if we could detect carbon dioxide (CO2) with our eyes. Scientists at NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office made computer animations of its presence in our atmosphere. Those videos show an almost-alien view of Earth under the influence of this gas.
The team at NASA made three animations, all showing the carbon dioxide levels throughout the year 2021. Each one shows four major contributors: fossil fuels, burning biomass, land ecosystems, and the oceans. In the view showing North and South America, we can see the results of plants absorbing the gas via photosynthesis and then releasing it during winter months. There are intense contributions along the northeastern seaboard of the U.S. mainly by emissions from fossil fuels burning. There's also a rise and fall of the gas over the Amazon rainforest. The team also interprets this as plants absorbing carbon during the day and then releasing it at night.
The animations also show sources and sinks (where CO2 is absorbed) in Asia and show an incredible amount of fossil fuel emissions over China. In other parts of the world, such as Australia, the absorption of this gas is much higher, with lower emissions due to lower populations.
