Cool video: How human-emitted Carbon Dioxide Circulates in Earth’s Atmosphere (NASA)

[pampango]

“An ultra-high-resolution NASA computer model has given scientists a stunning new look at how carbon dioxide in the atmosphere travels around the globe.

Plumes of carbon dioxide in the simulation swirl and shift as winds disperse the greenhouse gas away from its sources. The simulation also 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.

The carbon dioxide visualization was produced by a computer model called GEOS-5, created by scientists at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office.

The visualization is a product of a simulation called a “Nature Run.” The Nature Run ingests real data on atmospheric conditions and the emission of greenhouse gases and both natural and man-made particulates. The model is then left to run on its own and simulate the natural behavior of the Earth’s atmosphere. This Nature Run simulates January 2006 through December 2006.
While Goddard scientists worked with a “beta” version of the Nature Run internally for several years, they released this updated, improved version to the scientific community for the first time in the fall of 2014.”

http://www.juancole.com/2014/11/dioxide-circulates-atmosphere.html

It is amazing how much CO2 is produced in the US, Europe, Russia and China. It is also amazing how much less CO2 in the atmosphere in the summer when plants absorb much of it, then it comes back as plants lose their leaves. The southern hemisphere, particularly Africa and South America, don't produce nearly as much CO2.