Earth  ID: 11683

Simulating Carbon

Story by Patrick Lynch | Visualizations by William Putman Released on November 18, 2014
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A NASA supercomputer model provides a new portrait of a greenhouse gas.
Carbon dioxide is the key driver of global warming, however, despite its significance, much remains unknown about the pathways it takes from emission source to the atmosphere or carbon reservoirs such as oceans and forests. Using a NASA supercomputer model called GEOS-5, scientists created a visualization that simulates how the greenhouse gas travels through Earth’s atmosphere over the course of a year. The model run produced nearly four petabytes (million billion bytes) of data and required 75 days of dedicated computation to complete. In addition to providing a striking look at the movements of the invisible gas as it is transported by winds across the globe, the visualization 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. Watch the video for a tour of the visualization.
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NASA climate scientist Bill Putman explains the nuances of carbon dioxide's movements and fluctuations throughout a year in this video.
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Carbon dioxide levels in the Northern Hemisphere rise during winter, reaching a peak in spring.
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Levels sharply decline in the summer as plant life flourishes across the Northern Hemisphere.
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During fall, the gas begins to accumulate over industrial countries in the Northern Hemisphere as absorption by plants decreases.
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By winter, concentrations of the greenhouse gas again climb toward their annual peak—this time at a higher level than the previous year.
 

Related Story

A Year In The Life Of Earth’s CO2

For More Information

NASA.gov

Story Credits

Lead Visualizer/Animator:
William Putman (NASA/GSFC)

Video Editor:
Kayvon Sharghi (USRA)

Narration:
William Putman (NASA/GSFC)
Kayvon Sharghi (USRA)

Narrator:
William Putman (NASA/GSFC)

Producer:
Kayvon Sharghi (USRA)

Lead Scientist:
William Putman (NASA/GSFC)

Lead Writer:
Patrick Lynch (Wyle Information Systems)

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

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11683

Keywords:
SVS >> App
NASA Science >> Earth