Visualization Gallery Visualization Gallery Historical use of Fossil Fuels Annual CO2 production from fossil fuels is mapped in an animation showing the spread of CO2 across the planet through time. Such data is useful to both researchers and world leaders when making decisions about regulations surrounding global warming issues.
Many researchers believe humans are the largest contributors to global warming.
Through the burning of fossil fuels to heat homes, run automobiles or produce cement, humans add to the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. In order to create fair laws and regulations about emissions, governments around the world need reliable data showing how much carbon dioxide is being released and from which areas of the world. The visualizations above were produced by Bob Andres of the UAF Institute of Northern Engineering, with the help of ARSC visualization specialist Roger Edberg, to produce data for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory database. The laboratory provides unbiased data on global warming for researchers and government officials around the world. The information from each year from 1750 through 1997 is strung together into an animation, showing the growth of the world's fossil fuel use through the Industrial Revolution and into today.