NASA used its Discover supercomputer to create a spectacular animation showing the high levels of carbon dioxide (CO₂) circulating across the planet. This visual project highlights the growing threat of climate change, caused by massive emissions from various human activities.
High-precision visualizations
Using 3D modeling and animation tools from the film industry, combined with advanced data sets, NASA researchers produced visualizations with unprecedented precision.
These images show how CO₂ emissions move through the atmosphere, influenced by airflows and weather patterns.
The project was designed at the Goddard Space Flight Center’s Climate Simulation Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
According to Lesley Ott, a climate scientist at NASA, this model highlights how human activities and weather patterns create a global interconnection in pollution.
Sources of carbon dioxide emissions
The model reveals marked regional differences in the sources of CO₂ emissions:
United States, China and South Asia : Power plants, vehicles, and industrial facilities are the main contributors.
Africa and South America : Fires linked to deforestation, land management, controlled agricultural burning and the burning of fossil fuels dominate emissions.
These data also show the natural cycles of CO₂, such as release and uptake during photosynthesis in plants and trees.
The impact of emissions on the climate
This animation highlights a worrying reality: massive quantities of CO₂ in the atmosphere are accelerating global warming.
Record temperatures have been recorded, with 2023 officially the hottest year in modern history. The 10 warmest years have all occurred in the last decade.
The warming of the atmosphere, caused by these emissions, contributes to a series of extreme climatic phenomena:
Heat waves longer and more intense
Forest fires more frequent and devastating
Storms and hurricanes more powerful
Sea level risethreatening coastal areas
IPCC alerts
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has declared that human activities have “unequivocally caused global warming”.
Greenhouse gas emissions, particularly CO₂, are exacerbating environmental upheavals on a global scale.
An essential model for our future
Visualizations produced by NASA play a crucial role in climate policy awareness and planning.
They allow scientists and decision-makers to clearly identify the sources of emissions and their overall impact.
As time runs out to mitigate the effects of climate change, these detailed images highlight the urgency of transitioning to renewable energy sources, reducing emissions, and implementing sustainable practices globally .
