Moms are always telling children to play fair and share. We know that we share the air. And what goes up comes down on all of us.
You could not find more vivid proof of this than an amazing video (below) from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center showing the movement of aerosol across the planet’s many faces, sea and land. I’m mesmerized by this, and find it as compelling as the U.S. Map of the Wind we featured a few months back (check in again, and take a look at today’s wind pattern). This map is color-coded to show the release and drift, from August 2006 to April 2007, of sea salt into the air (blue), carbon from fires (green), sulfates from fossil fuels and volcanoes (white), and dust (orange/red).
It is beautiful, in a surreal way. And a reminder to all of us to mind what we’re putting into the air. What if a genie came down out of thin air and gave me one wish? It would be (short of magically rebalancing that carbon in our atmosphere) that the leaders of the United States, China, Brazil and India enter into an agreement to stop polluting. We share the air. And we’ve dirtied more than our fair share.
Thank you to Moms Clean Air Force fan and designer extraordinaire, Markley Boyer for sending me this awesome link.
Photo: RedOrbit