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Video: global carbon dispersal looks like an impressionistic painting in motion

A new video showing the global movements of carbon dioxide during one year may look beautiful, but such impressions are misleading. The video, produced by NASA, shows just how much humans are impacting the world’s atmosphere, leading to rising temperatures, ocean acidification, melting glaciers, vanishing sea ice, and untold impacts on both wildlife and human communities.



NASA used a supercomputer to model carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere over a year—2006—which change significantly due to weather patterns, seasonal changes, and various emissions and sinks.



The model also shows the annual movements of carbon monoxide—in black and white—due to fires, including burning for agriculture and forest fires.














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