Burying NYC in its own pollution [video]Adam Niemancarbon dioxidecarbon dioxide emissionsvideo representation
Just as getting a clear view of the horizon on an ozone action day is no easy task, visualizing what the fifty-four million tons of carbon dioxide emissions produced by the Big Apple in 2010 really looks like would elude most people.
That’s exactly why Adam Nieman and company took a stab at it by creating this striking video representation.
Adam Nieman and a team from Carbon Visuals have now created a visualisation that gives the number a sense of scale by representing carbon emissions in terms of 10 meter-wide balls that pile up around the New York City skyline. The backdrop alludes to the fact that about 75 per cent of emissions are produced by buildings.
Each ball represents a ton of carbon dioxide: the volume of gas that would fill a sphere of that size. The video shows the mountain of balls that would build up after an hour, a day and a year, as well as visualising the emission rate of about two tons per second in real time, if it all emerged in one place.
The team noted that emissions are on the way down in New York City, but it doesn’t hurt to get an idea of the magnitude of the problem we’re dealing with.
Full story at New Scientist.
Visualizing the science.Posted by Kate Rinsema