This Terrifying Simulation Shows A Year In The Life Of Earth's CO2

[Skidmore]

http://io9.com/this-terrifying-simulation-shows-a-year-in-the-life-of-1660238659?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_facebook&utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

NASA scientists have produced an ultra-high resolution computer model showing the ebbs and flows of carbon dioxide over the course of an entire year. It's both stunning and undeniably frightening.

This is the first hi-res simulation to show in such fine detail how carbon dioxide actually moves through the atmosphere. Watching it, you can see seasonal differences as plumes of CO2 swirl and shift. The northern and southern hemispheres feature swings in concentrations as the growth cycle of plants and trees changes.

[daleanime]

1. kick, kick, kick.....

[daleanime]

2. kick, kick, kick.....

[daleanime]

3. kick, kick, kick.....

[LWolf]

4. k & r

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

5. K&R

[BadgerKid]

6. Pretty, but mostly free of content.

For example, where's the color scale? Why should natural particulates be "terrifying"? What's the relative contributions of natural vs man-made particulates here?

As a scientist, I say shame on the author (Dvorksy) for cherry-picking information to sensationalize.

[B2G]

8. I'm not sure what's terrifying about it either

when it states clearly that it illustrates the fluctuations due to seasonal changes of plants and trees.

Maybe I'm missing something...

[PoutrageFatigue]

9. Color scale on the bottom right of the graphic.

.

[progree]

10. The color scale appears after about 2 seconds and is at the far lower right

Its not particulates, but CO2 concentration levels in parts per million.

[BlueJazz]

12. I was thinking the same thing. I feel like I walked into a lecture (Late), right as the scientist..

...said "And now to prove my point and clarify my position, please watch this simulation"

[NCTraveler]

7. Thanks for the op. K&R. nt.

[lonestarnot]

11. Holy crap

[Helen Borg]

13. The color scale is unfortunate...

Because light pink is supposed to be really high, but bright red is obviously more salient. They need a more intuitive color scale.

[rock]

14. Not a criticism, just a note for better understanding

The map projection used (possibly Mercator, in any case cylindrical) distorts the poles very badly by overemphasizing their proportionality. In particular the red areas are exaggerated in the early months of the year. So the picture is more terrifying than the reality. Nevertheless, fascinating.

[Skidmore]

15. Sometimes I think that right now wouldn't be a bad time to

terrify a few of the incalcitrant.