NASA released a series of high-resolution videos this week showing the movement of key greenhouse gases through Earth's atmosphere. Greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide and methane fluctuate throughout the year, with Earth's geography and weather patterns affecting how gases are transported and dispersed.
The simulation was produced by GEOS-5, a computer model designed by data scientists in the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The model's inputs include a variety of precise data on emissions and atmospheric conditions. The model -- powered by a supercomputer -- uses the data inputs to churn out a two-year-long prediction of the movement and concentration greenhouse gases.
Variations of the model can be used to pump out predictions for specific regions, honing in on localized weather patterns and regional geographical features that affect CO2. The model allows scientists to visualize how carbon dioxide is dispersed from high-pollution locations and carried across continents, over oceans and throughout the planet. Similar models have been used to track the ways pollution and trash is carried by currents across the world's oceans.
In the visualization, cooler colors (purple and blue) represent lower concentrations of CO2, while warmer colors (yellow, orange, red) represent higher concentrations.