{ "id": 3844, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3844/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Black Carbon: A Global Presence", "description": "When wood, fossil fuels, and even dried dung burns at low temperatures, countless bits of carbonaceous material waft into the atmosphere as smoke. These charred bits of matter— known as soot—usually remain aloft for just a short period, but they have a major impact on humans nonetheless. The chain-like particles can penetrate deep into the lungs and contribute to asthma and cardiovascular disease. They also impact the climate. In fact, soot has such a powerful ability to absorb sunlight that climatologists call it \"black carbon\" and the ubiquitous particles are thought to be the second strongest contributor to global warming following only carbon dioxide. The data visualization above, based on data from NASA's GOCART model, simulates the atmospheric concentration of black carbon between August and November of 2009. This story is the first of a two-part series on black carbon, which will conclude on Thursday with a look at how the particles affect the Himalayan region. || ", "release_date": "2011-08-09T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:53:42.037598-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 484186, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003800/a003844/bcglobe_2468_1024x576.jpg", "filename": "bcglobe_2468_1024x576.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "A tiny particle created by both backcountry burning and heavy industry has an outsized effect on Earth's climate.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 }, "main_video": { "id": 484191, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003800/a003844/bc_globe_ipad-540-MASTER_high.mp4", "filename": "bc_globe_ipad-540-MASTER_high.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Continents and oceans are shaded in order to make black carbon's atmospheric behavior easier to see.", "width": 960, "height": 540, "pixels": 518400 }, "main_credits": { "Scientific consulting by": [ { "name": "William K. Lau", "employer": "NASA/GSFC" } ], "Written by": [ { "name": "Adam P Voiland", "employer": "Wyle Information Systems" } ] }, "progress": "Complete", "media_groups": [ { "id": 351546, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3844/#media_group_351546", "widget": "Basic text with HTML", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "When wood, fossil fuels, and even dried dung burns at low temperatures, countless bits of carbonaceous material waft into the atmosphere as smoke. These charred bits of matter— known as soot—usually remain aloft for just a short period, but they have a major impact on humans nonetheless. The chain-like particles can penetrate deep into the lungs and contribute to asthma and cardiovascular disease. They also impact the climate. In fact, soot has such a powerful ability to absorb sunlight that climatologists call it \"black carbon\" and the ubiquitous particles are thought to be the second strongest contributor to global warming following only carbon dioxide. The data visualization above, based on data from NASA's GOCART model, simulates the atmospheric concentration of black carbon between August and November of 2009. 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Lau", "employer": "NASA/GSFC" } ] }, { "role": "Writer", "people": [ { "name": "Adam P Voiland", "employer": "Wyle Information Systems" } ] } ], "missions": [], "series": [], "tapes": [], "papers": [], "datasets": [], "nasa_science_categories": [ "Earth" ], "keywords": [ "App" ], "recommended_pages": [], "related": [ { "id": 3668, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3668/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Atmospheric Black Carbon Density", "description": "Black carbon, or soot, is formed from the burning of fossil fuels and biomass and lingers in the atmosphere for days or weeks before being deposited on the land or ocean. The transport and deposition of black carbon has become an important topic related to climate change since it can absorb sunlight and cause an increase in temperature on ice surfaces or in the atmosphere. The movement of black carbon in the atmosphere can be simulated by including existing black carbon data sets in a global model of the atmosphere. This animation shows the simulation of over three months of atmospheric black carbon production and movement from the Goddard Chemistry Aerosol and Transport (GOCART) model, which is driven by output of the GEOS5 global atmosphere simulation. Note the production of black carbon from industrialization in China and biomass burning in Africa, as well as the movement of black carbon across the oceans of the world. || ", "release_date": "2009-12-13T00:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2024-06-23T22:01:41.935713-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 495007, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003600/a003668/ebc_2660.png", "filename": "ebc_2660.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The global atmospheric black carbon density from August 1, 2009 through November 19, 2009, from the GOCART model. This version is laid over an image of the Earth.This product is available through our Web Map Service.", "width": 1024, "height": 512, "pixels": 524288 } } ], "sources": [], "products": [], "newer_versions": [], "older_versions": [], "alternate_versions": [] }