Carbon dioxide, or CO2 is one of the greenhouse gases that is causing global warming. A video released by NASA shows a simulation of how CO2 moves between continents on Earth carried by the winds of our planet’s weather systems.
Carbon dioxide, or CO2, is a natural occurring part of our atmosphere, but many in the scientific community believe an excess of the greenhouse gas is contributing to global warming.
A video released by NASA shows a simulation of how CO2 moves between continents on Earth carried by the winds of our planet’s weather systems.
The ultra-high-resolution mapping shows how CO2 emissions are concentrated over the northern hemisphere including Europe, Asia, and the United States.
Bill Putman, lead scientist on the project from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland is quoted as saying: “Simulations like this, combined with data from observations, will help improve our understanding of both human emissions of carbon dioxide and natural fluxes across the globe.”
The computer model was based on atmospheric conditions and data about green house gas emissions between May of 2005, and June 2007.
Results of the simulation show that carbon dioxide emissions are absorbed by forests and parts of the ocean called carbon sinks, but some experts theorize that the sinks might have reached their limit since more and more carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere every year.
To better track CO2 emissions from space, NASA launched the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 in July of this year, and hope to release date from it by 2015.
