Earth  ID: 3308

Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide from 1980 to 2005

Visualizations by Greg Shirah Released on December 31, 2005
This visualization shows atmospheric carbon dioxide from 1980 to 2005. The first curve (in yellow) is fossil fuel emissions which is the known amount of carbon dioxide put out into the atmosphere. The second curve (in red) is the atmospheric increase which is the measured carbon in the atmosphere. Next, a green region between the two curves highlights the sink which is the amount of carbon dioxide that taken out of the atmosphere by natural processes. Scientists understand when some of the carbon sink occurs, but not all of it. This 'missing carbon' is a scientific mystery. Finally, in the visualization, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Index is added along with blue bars that indicate when each El Niño happens. Notice the strong correlation between the ENSO Index curve and the spikes in the atmospheric increase curve. During an El Niño, there is apparently less of a carbon sink.
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Atmospheric CO2 from 1980 to 2005 (full animation)
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Push into the graph
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Add fossil fuel emissions curve to the graph
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Add atmospheric increase curve to the graph
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Add the sink area to the graph
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Add the El Ninso Southern Oscillation (ENSO) curve to the graph
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A version without the ENSO curve
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Empty graph
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Graph with fossil fuel emissions
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Graph with fossil fuel emissions and atmospheric increase
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Graph with fossil fuel emissions, atmospheric increase, and sink
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Graph with fossil fuel emissions, atmospheric increase, sink, ENSO curve and ENSO bars
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Graph with fossil fuel emissions, atmospheric increase, sink, and ENSO bars

Visualization Credits

Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Lead Animator
Jim Collatz (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3308

Dates of Data Used:
1980 to 2005

This item is part of this series:
Missing Carbon

Goddard TV Tape:
G2007-001HD -- NASA's HD Climate Change Resource Tape

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Chemistry/Carbon and Hydrocarbon Compounds >> Carbon Dioxide
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Climate Indicators >> Teleconnections >> El Nino Southern Oscillation
NASA Science >> Earth

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0