+ Visit NASA.gov + Advanced Search   + About the Server   + Animation List   + How to Use the Server   + RSS Feeds Previous Animation Next Animation Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide from 1980 to 2005 This visualization shows atmospheric carbon dioxide from 1980 to 2005. The first curve (in yellow) is fossil fuel emissions which is the known amount of carbon dioxide put out into the atmosphere. The second curve (in red) is the atmospheric increase which is the measured carbon in the atmosphere. Next, a green region between the two curves highlights the sink which is the amount of carbon dioxide that taken out of the atmosphere by natural processes. Scientists understand when some of the carbon sink occurs, but not all of it. This 'missing carbon' is a scientific mystery. Finally, in the visualization, the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Index is added along with blue bars that indicate when each El Nino happens. Notice the strong correlation between the ENSO Index curve and the spikes in the atmospheric increase curve. During an El Nino, there is apparently less of a carbon sink.    Atmospheric CO2 from 1980 to 2005 (full animation) Duration: 26.0 seconds Available formats:   1280x720 (29.97 fps) MPEG-2   48 MB   512x288 (29.97 fps) MPEG-1   4 MB   320x240 (30 fps) MPEG-1   4 MB   640x480 (30 fps) MPEG-1   11 MB   720x480 (29.97 fps) MPEG-2   22 MB   1280x720 (29.97 fps) Frames   640x480 (29.97 fps) Frames   320x240     PNG           71 KB   1280x720 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   6 MB How to play our movies    Push into the graph Duration: 5.0 seconds Available formats:   640x480 (30 fps) MPEG-1   925 KB   320x240     JPEG         9 KB How to play our movies    Add fossil fuel emissions curve to the graph Duration: 5.0 seconds Available formats:   640x480 (30 fps) MPEG-1   976 KB   320x240     JPEG         29 KB How to play our movies    Add atmospheric increase curve to the graph Duration: 6.0 seconds Available formats:   640x480 (30 fps) MPEG-1   1 MB   320x240     JPEG         36 KB How to play our movies    Add the sink area to the graph Duration: 5.0 seconds Available formats:   640x480 (30 fps) MPEG-1   1 MB   320x240     JPEG         36 KB How to play our movies    Add the El Ninso Southern Oscillation (ENSO) curve to the graph Duration: 12.0 seconds Available formats:   640x480 (30 fps) MPEG-1   2 MB   320x240     JPEG         13 KB How to play our movies    A version without the ENSO curve Duration: 3.0 seconds Available formats:   640x480 (30 fps) MPEG-1   563 KB   320x240     JPEG         12 KB How to play our movies    Empty graph Available formats:   1280 x 960       TIFF 811 KB   320 x 240         PNG 37 KB    Graph with fossil fuel emissions Available formats:   1280 x 960       TIFF 854 KB   320 x 240         PNG 43 KB    Graph with fossil fuel emissions and atmospheric increase Available formats:   1280 x 960       TIFF 962 KB   320 x 240         PNG 57 KB    Graph with fossil fuel emissions, atmospheric increase, and sink Available formats:   1280 x 960       TIFF 956 KB   320 x 240         PNG 61 KB    Graph with fossil fuel emissions, atmospheric increase, sink, ENSO curve and ENSO bars Available formats:   1280 x 960       TIFF 1 MB   320 x 240         PNG 74 KB    Graph with fossil fuel emissions, atmospheric increase, sink, and ENSO bars Available formats:   1280 x 960       TIFF 1 MB   320 x 240         PNG 66 KB   160 x 80           PNG 13 KB   80 x 40             PNG   4 KB Animation Number: 3308 Animator: Greg Shirah (SVS) (Lead) Completed: 2005-11-14 Scientist: Jim Collatz (NASA/GSFC) Data Collected: 1980 to 2005 Series: Missing Carbon Goddard TV Tape: G2007-001HD -- NASA's HD Climate Change Resource Tape Keywords: SVS >> HDTV GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Chemistry/Carbon and Hydrocarbon Compounds >> Carbon Dioxide GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Climate Indicators >> Teleconnections >> El Nino Southern Oscillation     Please give credit for this item to NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio Back to Top + Privacy Policy and Important Notices + Reproduction Guidelines NASA Official: SVS Contact: Curator: