CO2 Global Map

Influenced by several news lately about the atmospheric carbon, I am writing a post about the CO₂ global map. NASA have given into publicity a video which illustrates the global carbon dioxide concentration. 

 NASA- A Year in the Life of Earth's CO2

The model simulation gives the daily carbon concentration of the year 2006. These data are very useful for the scientific community, giving an illustration of the human impact on global scale. In combination with the 2^nd post (Human influence in the Atmosphere!) , we can observe the high concentration of carbon dioxide across the north hemisphere, due to carbon emissions from North America, Europe and Asia. 

As the speaker describes, during the spring and summer in the north hemisphere, the photosynthesis influences positively the carbon sequestration in the soil (5^th post Carbon travel, destination: Soil), thus the carbon concentration in the air has lower levels comparing to winter concentration.

In addition, the speaker points out that the carbon dioxide travels around the globe, been affected by the weather, giving to the problem global dimensions. On the other hand, a dangerous gas for the environment and the human, the carbon monoxide is emitted in the south hemisphere.

This kind of modelling will help to understand how carbon emissions affect the environment.   The rise of this element in the atmosphere will cause problems to the humanity in the near future.