Plants Are Struggling to Keep Up with Rising Carbon Dioxide Concentrations

Released Thursday, December 10th, 2020
Updated Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023 at 1:44PM

ID: 13781

- Written by:
- Esprit Smith
- Produced by:
- Kathryn Mersmann
View full credits

Plants play a key role in mitigating climate change. The more carbon dioxide they absorb during photosynthesis, the less carbon dioxide remains trapped in the atmosphere where it can cause temperatures to rise. But scientists have identified an unsettling trend – 86% of land ecosystems globally are becoming progressively less efficient at absorbing the increasing levels of CO2 from the atmosphere.

Music: A Curious Incident by Jay Price [PRS] and Paul Reeves [PRS]

Complete transcript available.

Earth

Biological Classification Carbon Dioxide Carbon Land Cycle Climate Climate Change Earth Science Feedback HDTV plants

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Writer
- Esprit Smith (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) [Lead]
Scientist
- Benjamin Poulter (NASA/GSFC)
Producer
- Kathryn Mersmann (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) [Lead]

Series

This visualization can be found in the following series:

Narrated Movies

ID: 5060 Visualization

Global Temperature Anomalies from 1880 to 2022

Jan. 12th, 2023
(updated Nov. 27th, 2023)

This color-coded map in Robinson projection displays a progression of changing global surface temperature anomalies. Normal temperatures are shown in white. Higher than normal temperatures are shown in red and lower than normal temperatures are shown in blue. Normal temperatures are calculated over the 30 year baseline period 1951-1980. The final frame represents the 5 year global temperature anomalies from 2018-2022. || GISTEMP-2022-TemperatureAnomalyBothCelsiusFahrenheit.00899_print.jpg (1024x576) [145.3 KB] || GISTEMP-2022-TemperatureAnomalyBothCelsiusFahrenheit.00899_searchweb.png (320x180) [74.8 KB] || GISTEMP-2022-TemperatureAnomalyBothCelsiusFahrenheit.00899_thm.png (80x40) [6.3 KB] || GISTEMP-2022-TemperatureAnomalyBothCelsiusFahrenheit.webm (1920x1080) [3.5 MB] || GISTEMP-2022-TemperatureAnomalyBothCelsiusFahrenheit.mp4 (1920x1080) [57.8 MB] || frames/1920x1080_16x9_30p/celsius/ (1920x1080) [64.0 KB] || frames/3840x2160_16x9_60p/celsius/ (3840x2160) [128.0 KB] ||

Read more

ID: 4964 Visualization

Global Temperature Anomalies from 1880 to 2021

Jan. 13th, 2022
(updated Nov. 27th, 2023)

This color-coded map in Robinson projection displays a progression of changing global surface temperature anomalies. Normal temperatures are shown in white. Higher than normal temperatures are shown in red and lower than normal temperatures are shown in blue. Normal temperatures are calculated over the 30 year baseline period 1951-1980. The final frame represents the 5 year global temperature anomalies from 2017-2021. Scale in degrees Fahrenheit. || 2021f-TemperatureAnomalyF.0900_print.jpg (1024x576) [164.1 KB] || 2021f-TemperatureAnomalyF.0900_searchweb.png (320x180) [74.9 KB] || 2021f-TemperatureAnomalyF.0900_thm.png (80x40) [14.4 KB] || 2021f-TemperatureAnomalyF.0900.tif (1920x1080) [1.6 MB] || 2021GISStempF-5yrAvg.mp4 (1920x1080) [41.1 MB] || frames/1920x1080_16x9_30p/fahrenheit/ (1920x1080) [64.0 KB] || 2021GISStempF-5yrAvg.webm (1920x1080) [3.4 MB] ||

Read more

ID: 4882 Visualization

Global Temperature Anomalies from 1880 to 2020

Jan. 14th, 2021
(updated Nov. 26th, 2023)

This color-coded map in Robinson projection displays a progression of changing global surface temperature anomalies. Normal temperatures are the average over the 30 year baseline period 1951-1980. Higher than normal temperatures are shown in red and lower than normal temperatures are shown in blue. The final frame represents the 5 year global temperature anomalies from 2016-2020. Scale in degrees Celsius. || print_cel2020_00000_print.jpg (1024x576) [184.6 KB] || print_cel2020_00000_searchweb.png (320x180) [71.3 KB] || print_cel2020_00000_thm.png (80x40) [6.5 KB] || GISSTEMP_celsius_fade_composite.mp4 (1920x1080) [69.1 MB] || GISSTEMP_celsius_fade_composite.webm (1920x1080) [3.4 MB] || print_cel2020_00000.tif (3840x2160) [23.7 MB] ||

Read more

ID: 4813 Visualization

Earth Day 2020: Biosphere

April 21st, 2020
(updated Nov. 15th, 2023)

Global Biosphere data from 1997 through 2017 with corresponding colorbars and date stamp.This video is also available on our YouTube channel. || earthday_bio_comp.0000_print.jpg (1024x576) [95.0 KB] || earthday_bio_comp.0000_searchweb.png (320x180) [51.5 KB] || earthday_bio_comp.0000_thm.png (80x40) [5.0 KB] || earthday_bio_comp_1080p30.mp4 (1920x1080) [106.0 MB] || frames/1920x1080_16x9_30p/earthday_biosphere_composite/ (1920x1080) [512.0 KB] || earthday_bio_comp_1080p30.webm (1920x1080) [17.9 MB] || captions_silent.29351.en_US.srt [43 bytes] ||

Read more

ID: 4816 Visualization

Earth Day 2020: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) Seasonal Cycles

April 20th, 2020
(updated Nov. 15th, 2023)

NDVI Seasonal Cycles, With LabelsThis video is also available on our YouTube channel. || ndvi_w_labels.00001_print.jpg (1024x576) [66.3 KB] || ndvi_w_labels.00001_searchweb.png (320x180) [42.2 KB] || ndvi_w_labels.00001_thm.png (80x40) [3.9 KB] || ndvi_w_labels.mp4 (1920x1080) [111.8 MB] || ndvi_w_labels.webm (1920x1080) [6.8 MB] || captions_silent.29562.en_US.srt [43 bytes] ||

Read more

ID: 4787 Visualization

Global Temperature Anomalies from 1880 to 2019

Jan. 15th, 2020
(updated Nov. 15th, 2023)

This color-coded map in Robinson projection displays a progression of changing global surface temperature anomalies. Normal temperatures are the average over the 30 year baseline period 1951-1980. Higher than normal temperatures are shown in red and lower than normal temperatures are shown in blue. The final frame represents the 5 year global temperature anomalies from 2015-2019. Scale in degrees Celsius. || CelsiusRobinson_0889_print.jpg (1024x576) [111.8 KB] || CelsiusRobinson_0889_searchweb.png (320x180) [79.4 KB] || CelsiusRobinson_0889_thm.png (80x40) [7.1 KB] || CelsiusRobinson2019update_1080p30.mp4 (1920x1080) [19.0 MB] || frames/1920x1080_16x9_30p/RobinsonCelsiusSequenceComposite/ (1920x1080) [64.0 KB] || CelsiusRobinson2019update_1080p30.webm (1920x1080) [3.7 MB] || frames/3840x2160_16x9_30p/Celsius_UHD_composite/ (3840x2160) [64.0 KB] || GISSTEMP2019_Celsius_UHD_2160p30.mp4 (3840x2160) [69.3 MB] ||

Read more

ID: 4565 Visualization

Seasonal Changes in Carbon Dioxide

May 4th, 2017
(updated May 3rd, 2023)

Narrated visualization showing seasonal drawdown in carbon dioxideThis video is also available on our YouTube channel. || co2_science_comp.0740_print.jpg (1024x576) [118.8 KB] || co2_science_comp.0740_searchweb.png (320x180) [75.9 KB] || co2_science_comp.0740_thm.png (80x40) [6.1 KB] || CO2_Science_001_DDMMYY.m4v (1280x720) [66.6 MB] || CO2_Science_001_DDMMYY.mov (1920x1080) [1.1 GB] || CO2_Science_001_DDMMYY.mp4 (1920x1080) [147.8 MB] || CO2_Science_001_DDMMYY.webmhd.webm (1080x606) [17.7 MB] || CO2_Science_001_MM.m4v (1280x720) [66.5 MB] || CO2_Science_001_MM.mov (1920x1080) [1.1 GB] || CO2_Science_001_MM.mp4 (1920x1080) [147.9 MB] || frames/1920x1080_16x9_24p/comp/ (1920x1080) [128.0 KB] || CO2_Science.en_US.srt [1.7 KB] || CO2_Science.en_US.vtt [1.7 KB] ||

Read more

ID: 4452 Visualization

Vegetation Greening Trend in Canada and Alaska: 1984-2012

June 2nd, 2016
(updated Nov. 14th, 2023)

This animation examines the change in the vegetation trend over Canada and Alaska between 1984 and 2012. || AG_v0020_Final.3975_print.jpg (1024x576) [213.8 KB] || AG_v0020_Final.3975_searchweb.png (320x180) [103.3 KB] || AG_v0020_Final.3975_thm.png (80x40) [6.9 KB] || AG_Final_mb150_slow_1080p30.mp4 (1920x1080) [38.0 MB] || AG_Final_mb150_slow_1080p60.mp4 (1920x1080) [38.0 MB] || frames/1920x1080_16x9_60p/ (1920x1080) [256.0 KB] || frames/1920x1080_16x9_30p/ (1920x1080) [128.0 KB] || AG_Final_mb150_slow_1080p30.webm (1920x1080) [5.7 MB] ||

Read more

ID: 12056 Produced Video

Carbon Dioxide Sources From a High-Resolution Climate Model

Nov. 12th, 2015
(updated May 3rd, 2023)

Animation of carbon dioxide released from two different sources: fires (biomass burning) and massive urban centers known as megacities. The animation covers a five day period in June 2006. The model is based on real emission data and is then set to run so that scientists can observe how the greenhouse gas behaves once it has been emitted. || tagged_co2_global_loop_appletv_print.jpg (1024x576) [102.9 KB] || tagged_co2_global_loop_appletv_searchweb.png (320x180) [75.4 KB] || tagged_co2_global_loop_appletv_thm.png (80x40) [6.0 KB] || tagged_co2_global_loop_appletv.m4v (1280x720) [25.1 MB] || tagged_co2_global_loop_youtube_hq.mov (1920x1080) [80.0 MB] || tagged_co2_global_loop.mpeg (1280x720) [172.7 MB] || tagged_co2_global_loop.webm (960x540) [14.5 MB] || tagged_co2_global_loop_prores.mov (1280x720) [707.1 MB] || tagged_co2_global_loop_ipod_sm.mp4 (320x240) [7.8 MB] ||

Read more