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A Bird's-Eye View of Carbon Emissions

What if carbon dioxide pollution were solid carbon chunks?

Aired 02/05/2020

NOVA

A Bird's-Eye View of Carbon Emissions

Clip: Season 47 Episode 1 | 1m 56sVideo has Closed Captions

What if carbon dioxide pollution were solid carbon chunks?

Carbon dioxide is an odorless, invisible gas. If we could see that carbon as a solid material on the ground, that might change our perspective on the amount of carbon we emit into the atmosphere. Play NOVA’s Polar Lab to see what effects all that CO2 is having on our planet’s poles.

Aired 02/05/2020

Major funding for NOVA is provided by the David H. Koch Fund for Science, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS viewers. Additional funding is provided by the NOVA Science...

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Fifty Million Years Ago, the Arctic Was a Warm Swamp

Video has Closed Captions

Drop yourself into a modern-day swamp, and that's what the ancient Arctic looked like. (2m 7s)

How Carbon Dioxide Warms Planet Earth

Video has Closed Captions

Carbon dioxide acts like a heat-trapping blanket, warming our planet. (2m 32s)

How Climate Has Shifted Over Millions of Years

Video has Closed Captions

Lake mud from the Russian Arctic tells us that Earth's climate has oscillated in the past. (2m 44s)

How Earth’s Climate Changed Over the Past 500 Million Years

Video has Closed Captions

Learn more about our planet’s Hothouse and Icehouse climates. (3m 25s)

How Humans Could Make Icehouse Earth into a Hothouse

Video has Closed Captions

Understand climate time. (4m 21s)

Plant Fossils Hint at Arctic's Swampy Past

Video has Closed Captions

Learn more about a lush forest that once dominated the Arctic. (3m 2s)

Polar Extremes Preview

Video has Closed Captions

Paleontologist Kirk Johnson explores the dynamic history—and future—of ice at the poles. (3m 19s)

This Alaska Community is Losing Sea Ice to Climate Change

Video has Closed Captions

See how one small town’s survival is threatened by climate change. (4m 47s)

This Canadian Cave Has Been Frozen Since the Last Ice Age

Video has Closed Captions

Explore this spectacular, icy cave. (3m 11s)

What did the East Coast Look Like 3 Million Years Ago?

Video has Closed Captions

Scientists dig up ancient clams from the ocean 90 miles from the nearest beach. (3m 21s)

What if Carbon Left Your Tailpipe as Solid Chunks?

Video has Closed Captions

Together, all the cars on Earth would leave quite the pile of carbon behind—every day. (2m 12s)

What’s Causing Greenland’s Biggest Glacier to Melt?

Video has Closed Captions

Warming ocean water is eating away at Greenland's glaciers from below. (2m 4s)

Why Trees Are Living Climate Records

Video has Closed Captions

Trees have an environmental record etched into their very wood. (1m 29s)

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Major funding for NOVA is provided by the David H. Koch Fund for Science, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS viewers. Additional funding is provided by the NOVA Science...

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