diff --git a/storage/stories/story-15/assets/story15_05_old.jpg b/storage/stories/story-15/assets/story15_05_old.jpg new file mode 100644 index 000000000..2a61bfd7a Binary files /dev/null and b/storage/stories/story-15/assets/story15_05_old.jpg differ diff --git a/storage/stories/story-15/story-15-en.json b/storage/stories/story-15/story-15-en.json index 273cff516..3820acf75 100644 --- a/storage/stories/story-15/story-15-en.json +++ b/storage/stories/story-15/story-15-en.json @@ -30,16 +30,18 @@ "shortText": "## New Trade Routes \r\n\r\nThe loss of Arctic sea ice has been faster than predicted:\r\n\r\n- The southern route of the Northwest Passage is now navigable almost every year\r\n- The northern route has opened in 6 of the last 10 summers \r\n- 2008: the first commercial ship passed through\r\n- 2013: the first bulk carrier took cargo from Vancouver to Helsinki\r\n\r\nThe Northeast Passage, along the northern coast of Russia, is also opening up to shipping:\r\n\r\n- shaving a third off the distance from Yokohama to Hamburg, compared with the Suez Canal route.\r\n- even greater potential for savings in distance, time and fuel if ice loss opens the central Transpolar Sea Route.\r\n\r\nShorter shipping routes will mean less fuel burned, less carbon released, but a local increase in pollutants:\r\n \r\n- soot particles could darken the remaining ice, adding to the warming,\r\n- but could also cause more clouds to condense, which might have a cooling effect.\r\n\r\nAlthough good news for the shipping and tourism industries, the retreat of the ice edge is a stark warning that the Earth’s climate is rapidly heading into uncharted waters.", "images": [ "assets/story15_02.jpg", - "assets/story15_03.jpg" + "assets/story15_03.jpg", + "assets/story15_04.png" ], "imageCaptions": [ - "Envisat ASAR radar mosaic showing potential shipping routes through the Northwest Passage (yellow, left), the Northeast Passage (blue, right) and the Transpolar Sea Route (green, centre). (ESA/Planetary Visions)", - "Icebreaker escorting a cargo vessel through sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. (Aker Arctic)" + "Envisat ASAR radar mosaic showing potential shipping routes through the Northwest Passage (yellow, left), the Northeast Passage (blue, right) and the Transpolar Sea Route (green, centre) (ESA/Planetary Visions)", + "Icebreaker escorting a cargo vessel through sea ice in the Arctic Ocean (Aker Arctic)", + "Arctic sea ice extent in August 1979-2019. The trend is down 72,000 sq km per year, or 9.1% per decade (EUMETSAT OSISAF data, with R&D input from ESA CCI)" ] }, { "type": "globe", - "text": "## Seasonal Cycle\r\n\r\nThe Arctic Ocean is characterised by the sea ice cover and its seasonal fluctuations. During winter, the ice pack grows to an area between 14 and 16 million square kilometres, reducing to four to five million square kilometres by the end of summer. That’s an area equivalent to the entire surface of Europe appearing and disappearing through the year. \r\n\r\nYou can see the annual expansion and contraction of the frozen sea surface by scrubbing through the timeline of the interactive globe on the right. Compare the annual minimum ice extents in mid-September for the first year and the final year of the sequence. Spin the globe round to Antarctica to see the sea ice in the Southern Ocean.\r\n\r\nThe core of the ice cover is formed of layers of frozen seawater that have survived the summer thaw. This multi-year ice reaches a thickness of two to four metres in the Arctic, whereas first-year sea ice typically reaches only 1 – 1.5 metres.\r\n\r\n## Long-term trend\r\n\r\n![Arctic sea ice extent in August graph](assets/story15_04.png) \r\n_Arctic sea ice extent in August 1979-2019. The trend is down 72,000 sq km per year, or 9.1% per decade. (EUMETSAT OSISAF data, with R&D input from ESA CCI)_\r\n\r\nSatellite observations show a significant loss of Arctic sea ice in recent decades, with the lowest extents observed in 2012, followed by 2007 and 2019. Since the advent of regular satellite measurements of sea ice in 1978, the Arctic Ocean’s summer sea ice extent has reduced by almost 40%. In the Southern Ocean the mean ice extent around Antarctica increased 4-6% over most of this period, but has plunged down three times faster than the Arctic from 2014. Globally the trend is down and the loss is accelerating.", + "text": "## Seasonal Cycle\r\n\r\nThe Arctic Ocean is characterised by the sea ice cover and its seasonal fluctuations. During winter, the ice pack grows to an area between 14 and 16 million square kilometres, reducing to four to five million square kilometres by the end of summer. That’s an area equivalent to the entire surface of Europe appearing and disappearing through the year. \r\n\r\nYou can see the annual expansion and contraction of the frozen sea surface by scrubbing through the timeline of the interactive globe on the right. Compare the annual minimum ice extents in mid-September for the first year and the final year of the sequence. Spin the globe round to Antarctica to see the sea ice in the Southern Ocean.\r\n\r\nThe core of the ice cover is formed of layers of frozen seawater that have survived the summer thaw. This multi-year ice reaches a thickness of two to four metres in the Arctic, whereas first-year sea ice typically reaches only 1 – 1.5 metres.\r\n\r\n## Long-term trend\r\n\r\nSatellite observations show a significant loss of Arctic sea ice in recent decades, with the lowest extents observed in 2012, followed by 2007 and 2019. Since the advent of regular satellite measurements of sea ice in 1978, the Arctic Ocean’s summer sea ice extent has reduced by almost 40%. In the Southern Ocean the mean ice extent around Antarctica increased 4-6% over most of this period, but has plunged down three times faster than the Arctic from 2014. Globally the trend is down and the loss is accelerating.", "shortText": "## Seasonal Cycle\r\n\r\nThe Arctic Ocean is characterised by the sea ice cover and its seasonal fluctuations:\r\n\r\n- during winter, the ice pack grows to an area between 14 and 16 million sq km, \r\n- and shrinks to 4–5 million sq km by the end of summer. \r\n- an area the size of Europe appears and disappears through the year. \r\n\r\nThe core of the ice cover is formed of layers of frozen seawater that have survived the summer thaw:\r\n \r\n- multi-year ice reaches a thickness of 2 to 4 metres in the Arctic\r\n- first-year sea ice typically reaches only 1 to 1.5 metres.\r\n\r\nSatellite observations show a significant loss of Arctic sea ice in recent decades:\r\n- the lowest extents observed in 2012, followed by 2007 and 2019. \r\n- since 1978, the Arctic Ocean’s summer ice extent has reduced by almost 40%\r\n\r\nThe mean ice extent around Antarctica increased 4-6% over most of this period, but has dropped three times faster than in the Arctic from 2014. Globally the trend is down and the loss is accelerating.", "flyTo": { "position": { @@ -62,32 +64,36 @@ }, { "type": "image", - "text": "## Caught in the Middle\r\n\r\nThe ocean and the atmosphere are the climate’s two great heat pumps, and sea ice forms where they meet. It has a complex influence on the energy exchanges between them. Sea ice insulates the sea, reducing heat loss to the atmosphere and providing a barrier to the exchange of gases and motion. But bright ice also reflects sunlight that would be absorbed by dark ocean water, keeping the sea cooler than it would otherwise be. So, in a warming climate sea ice is subject to a positive feedback: melting ice exposes darker ocean water, which warms up, leading to further melting. \r\n\r\nThis is part of a process called the Arctic amplification. More heat is also being transported to the poles by both the atmosphere and the ocean as they warm up. This makes the Arctic one of the most sensitive regions to variations in global climate, and the place where most climate models predict the greatest warming. Observed temperature rise in the Arctic has been 2-3 times the global average. \r\n\r\n![Sea ice energy balance diagram](assets/story15_05.jpg) \r\n_Melting of sea ice dramatically changes the energy balance in the Arctic Ocean. Ice reflects about 90% of the incoming solar radiation, whereas open water absorbs about 94%._\r\n\r\n## Climate Regulator\r\nSea ice has an important influence on the global ocean circulation. When seawater freezes in the winter, it leaves salt behind, increasing the salinity and therefore the density of the surrounding water, causing it to sink. This process is one of the main drivers behind the ocean’s global vertical circulation (the thermohaline circulation), which helps distribute energy around the planet. \r\n\r\nWhen the sea ice melts in the summer, it produces an influx of fresh water, adding to that from large rivers running in from Siberia and North America. This makes the Arctic Ocean much fresher than the salty Atlantic and Pacific. Ocean circulation is partly driven by temperature and salinity differences in the water, so changes to the cycle of sea ice freezing and melting can affect ocean currents and weather systems far from the Arctic.", + "text": "## Caught in the Middle\r\n\r\nThe ocean and the atmosphere are the climate’s two great heat pumps, and sea ice forms where they meet. It has a complex influence on the energy exchanges between them. Sea ice insulates the sea, reducing heat loss to the atmosphere and providing a barrier to the exchange of gases and motion. But bright ice also reflects sunlight that would be absorbed by dark ocean water, keeping the sea cooler than it would otherwise be. So, in a warming climate sea ice is subject to a positive feedback: melting ice exposes darker ocean water, which warms up, leading to further melting. \r\n\r\nThis is part of a process called the Arctic amplification. More heat is also being transported to the poles by both the atmosphere and the ocean as they warm up. This makes the Arctic one of the most sensitive regions to variations in global climate, and the place where most climate models predict the greatest warming. Observed temperature rise in the Arctic has been 2-3 times the global average. \r\n\r\n## Climate Regulator\r\nSea ice has an important influence on the global ocean circulation. When seawater freezes in the winter, it leaves salt behind, increasing the salinity and therefore the density of the surrounding water, causing it to sink. This process is one of the main drivers behind the ocean’s global vertical circulation (the thermohaline circulation), which helps distribute energy around the planet. \r\n\r\nWhen the sea ice melts in the summer, it produces an influx of fresh water, adding to that from large rivers running in from Siberia and North America. This makes the Arctic Ocean much fresher than the salty Atlantic and Pacific. Ocean circulation is partly driven by temperature and salinity differences in the water, so changes to the cycle of sea ice freezing and melting can affect ocean currents and weather systems far from the Arctic.", "shortText": "## Caught in the Middle\r\n\r\nSea ice forms where ocean and atmosphere meet: \r\n\r\n- sea ice insulates the sea, reducing heat loss to the atmosphere\r\n- it provides a barrier to the exchange of gases and motion\r\n- it reflects sunlight that would be absorbed by dark ocean water, keeping the sea cooler than it would otherwise be. \r\n\r\nIn a warming climate sea ice is subject to a positive feedback: \r\n\r\n- melting ice exposes darker ocean water, which warms up, leading to further melting. \r\n- This is part of a process called the Arctic amplification. \r\n- More heat is also being transported to the poles by both the atmosphere and the ocean as they warm up. \r\n\r\nThis makes the Arctic one of the most sensitive regions to variations in global climate:\r\n\r\n- It is where most climate models predict the greatest warming. \r\n- Observed temperature rise in the Arctic has been 2–3 times the global average. \r\n\r\nSea ice has an important influence on the global ocean circulation:\r\n\r\n- Sea ice formation is one of the main drivers of the thermohaline circulation\r\n- When sea ice melts in the summer, it produces an influx of fresh water\r\n- adding to that from large rivers running in from Siberia and North America\r\n- making the Arctic Ocean much fresher than the salty Atlantic and Pacific \r\n\r\nChanges to the cycle of sea ice freezing and melting can change water temperature and salinity with effects on ocean currents and weather systems far from the Arctic.", "images": [ "assets/seaice_large_05.jpg", "assets/seaice_large_13.jpg", "assets/story15_06.jpg", - "assets/story15_07.jpg" + "assets/story15_07.jpg", + "assets/story15_05.jpg" ], "imageCaptions": [ "Young Arctic sea ice viewed from an aircraft. Sea ice thinner than 50 cm is particularly important for weather and climate as it controls the exchange of heat and water between the ocean and atmosphere. (S Hendriks/AWI)", "Pressure ridge in thick Arctic sea ice, formed as two ice floes converge. (Seymour Laxon/CPOM/UCL)", "Sea ice in Resolute Bay, Canada, from Sentinel-2. (Modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2019), processed by Pierre Markuse)", - "Melting sea ice swirls off the east coast of Greenland \r\nin this Sentinel-2 image taken on 20 April, 2020. (ESA)" + "Melting sea ice swirls off the east coast of Greenland \r\nin this Sentinel-2 image taken on 20 April, 2020. (ESA)", + "Melting of sea ice dramatically changes the energy balance in the Arctic Ocean. Ice reflects about 90% of the incoming solar radiation, whereas open water absorbs about 94%." ] }, { "type": "image", - "text": "## Life on the Front Line\r\n\r\nThe inhabitants of the Arctic region are living on the climate change front line. As traditional ways of hunting and travel are being disrupted, they have to adjust their lifestyles to the rapid warming. The sea ice that was such a barrier to European explorers provides a vital link for Greenlanders, both to food sources and between coastal communities. Waters that are becoming easier for a cruise ship to navigate are becoming more difficult for dogsled and snowmobile.\r\n\r\n![Northern hemisphere permafrost](assets/story15_08.png) \r\n_Northern hemisphere permafrost 2003-2017._\r\n\r\nFrom Alaska to Siberia, modern infrastructure such as roads, buildings and oil pipelines are undermined as the frozen ground – permafrost – on which they are built thaws out. This also releases carbon dioxide and the more powerful greenhouse gas methane from the previously-frozen soil. Vast quantities of methane also lie trapped as frozen methane hydrates on the Arctic Ocean’s broad continental shelf, parts of which could also thaw as the temperature rises.\r\n\r\nMelt-water from the Greenland Ice Sheet has contributed 11mm to sea level rise since 1992 and is tracking the worst-case climate warming predictions. Being fresh water, it is a further disruption to the salinity balance in the Arctic Ocean and surrounding seas. The flow of glaciers has also increased on islands such as Severnaya Zemlya as the surrounding ocean has warmed. Ice sheets, glaciers, permafrost and ocean salinity are, like sea ice, considered to be ‘essential climate variables’ that we need to monitor in order to understand how the climate is changing.", + "text": "## Life on the Front Line\r\n\r\nThe inhabitants of the Arctic region are living on the climate change front line. As traditional ways of hunting and travel are being disrupted, they have to adjust their lifestyles to the rapid warming. The sea ice that was such a barrier to European explorers provides a vital link for Greenlanders, both to food sources and between coastal communities. Waters that are becoming easier for a cruise ship to navigate are becoming more difficult for dogsled and snowmobile.\r\n\r\nFrom Alaska to Siberia, modern infrastructure such as roads, buildings and oil pipelines are undermined as the frozen ground – permafrost – on which they are built thaws out. This also releases carbon dioxide and the more powerful greenhouse gas methane from the previously-frozen soil. Vast quantities of methane also lie trapped as frozen methane hydrates on the Arctic Ocean’s broad continental shelf, parts of which could also thaw as the temperature rises.\r\n\r\nMelt-water from the Greenland Ice Sheet has contributed 11mm to sea level rise since 1992 and is tracking the worst-case climate warming predictions. Being fresh water, it is a further disruption to the salinity balance in the Arctic Ocean and surrounding seas. The flow of glaciers has also increased on islands such as Severnaya Zemlya as the surrounding ocean has warmed. Ice sheets, glaciers, permafrost and ocean salinity are, like sea ice, considered to be ‘essential climate variables’ that we need to monitor in order to understand how the climate is changing.", "shortText": "## Life on the Front Line\r\n\r\nArctic people are living on the climate change front line:\r\n\r\n- Traditional ways of hunting and travel are being disrupted.\r\n- Sea ice provides a vital link to food sources and between coastal communities.\r\n- Waters that are becoming easier for a cruise ship are becoming more difficult for dogsled and snowmobile.\r\n\r\nFrom Alaska to Siberia, as permafrost thaws out:\r\n- modern infrastructure such as roads, buildings and oil pipelines are undermined\r\n- carbon dioxide and methane are released form the soil\r\n- Vast quantities of frozen methane hydrates on the Arctic Ocean floor could also thaw as the temperature rises.\r\n\r\nMelt-water from the Greenland Ice Sheet:\r\n- has contributed 11mm to sea level rise since 1992\r\n- is tracking the worst-case climate warming predictions. \r\n- Being fresh water, it is a further disruption to the salinity balance in the Arctic Ocean and surrounding seas. \r\n\r\nThe flow of glaciers on Arctic islands has increased as the surrounding ocean has warmed. \r\n\r\nIce sheets, glaciers, permafrost, ocean salinity and sea ice are ‘essential climate variables’.", "images": [ "assets/icesheet_large_16.jpg", - "assets/icesheet_large_01.jpg" + "assets/icesheet_large_01.jpg", + "assets/story15_08.png" ], "imageCaptions": [ - "Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. Greenlanders are having to adapt to a warming climate. Melting sea ice not only shortens the hunting season, but also makes it more difficult to reach neighbouring communities by dogsled or snowmobile.", - "Surface meltwater runs across Leverett Glacier, about 50km from\r\n the western edge of the Greenland ice sheet, on 19th August 2009.\r\n(Andrew Sole, University of Sheffield)" + "Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. Greenlanders are having to adapt to a warming climate. Melting sea ice not only shortens the hunting season, but also makes it more difficult to reach neighbouring communities by dogsled or snowmobile. (Oliver Schauf)", + "Surface meltwater runs across Leverett Glacier, about 50km from\r\n the western edge of the Greenland ice sheet, on 19th August 2009.\r\n(Andrew Sole, University of Sheffield)", + "Northern hemisphere permafrost 2003-2017 (ESA-CCI)" ] }, { diff --git a/storage/stories/story-16/story-16-de.json b/storage/stories/story-16/story-16-de.json index caa328c75..842a7bc6d 100644 --- a/storage/stories/story-16/story-16-de.json +++ b/storage/stories/story-16/story-16-de.json @@ -5,17 +5,13 @@ "type": "splashscreen", "text": "# Planetary Heat Pumps\r\n\r\nThe ocean and the atmosphere both redistribute heat energy around the planet, but the oceans have a much higher capacity to store heat, making them a more stable indicator of climate trends.", "shortText": "# Planetary Heat Pumps\r\n\r\nThe ocean and the atmosphere both redistribute heat energy around the planet, but the oceans have a much higher capacity to store heat, making them a more stable indicator of climate trends.", - "images": [ - "assets/sst.jpg" - ] + "images": ["assets/sst.jpg"] }, { "type": "image", "text": "## High Capacity \r\n\r\nGo for a swim in the sea on midsummers day and the water may be surprisingly chilly. Although the sun is at its highest point in the sky and there are more hours of sunlight than on any other day of the year, the sea does not reach its maximum temperature until two or three months later. This lag shows that the sea has a high heat capacity – it takes a lot of energy to change its temperature, so it is slow to heat up and slow to cool down.\r\n \r\nThis makes the sea incredibly good at storing heat. So good, that just the top three metres of the ocean contains as much heat as the entire atmosphere. The ocean’s capacity to accumulate, transport and slowly release the energy it receives from the Sun is one of the key regulators of weather and climate on our planet.", "shortText": "## High Capacity \r\n\r\nThe sea reaches its maximum temperature in the autumn.\r\n\r\nThe sea has a high heat capacity – it is:\r\n\r\n- slow to heat up, slow to cool down\r\n- very good at storing heat \r\n\r\nThe top 3 metres of the ocean contain as much heat as the entire atmosphere. \r\n\r\nThe oceans:\r\n\r\n- accumulate, transport and slowly release energy from the Sun\r\n- are one of the key regulators of weather and climate on our planet", - "images": [ - "assets/sst_large_01.jpg" - ], + "images": ["assets/sst_large_01.jpg"], "imageCaptions": [ "The top three metres of the sea contain as much heat as the entire atmosphere. (christianvizl.com)" ] @@ -44,10 +40,7 @@ ], "markers": [ { - "position": [ - "3.2303", - " 56.0696" - ], + "position": [3.2303, 56.0696], "title": "North Sea" } ] @@ -122,4 +115,4 @@ "videoId": "alu0x_bgFrE" } ] -} \ No newline at end of file +} diff --git a/storage/stories/story-16/story-16-en.json b/storage/stories/story-16/story-16-en.json index caa328c75..9e283d94c 100644 --- a/storage/stories/story-16/story-16-en.json +++ b/storage/stories/story-16/story-16-en.json @@ -5,25 +5,31 @@ "type": "splashscreen", "text": "# Planetary Heat Pumps\r\n\r\nThe ocean and the atmosphere both redistribute heat energy around the planet, but the oceans have a much higher capacity to store heat, making them a more stable indicator of climate trends.", "shortText": "# Planetary Heat Pumps\r\n\r\nThe ocean and the atmosphere both redistribute heat energy around the planet, but the oceans have a much higher capacity to store heat, making them a more stable indicator of climate trends.", - "images": [ - "assets/sst.jpg" - ] + "images": ["assets/sst.jpg"] }, { "type": "image", "text": "## High Capacity \r\n\r\nGo for a swim in the sea on midsummers day and the water may be surprisingly chilly. Although the sun is at its highest point in the sky and there are more hours of sunlight than on any other day of the year, the sea does not reach its maximum temperature until two or three months later. This lag shows that the sea has a high heat capacity – it takes a lot of energy to change its temperature, so it is slow to heat up and slow to cool down.\r\n \r\nThis makes the sea incredibly good at storing heat. So good, that just the top three metres of the ocean contains as much heat as the entire atmosphere. The ocean’s capacity to accumulate, transport and slowly release the energy it receives from the Sun is one of the key regulators of weather and climate on our planet.", "shortText": "## High Capacity \r\n\r\nThe sea reaches its maximum temperature in the autumn.\r\n\r\nThe sea has a high heat capacity – it is:\r\n\r\n- slow to heat up, slow to cool down\r\n- very good at storing heat \r\n\r\nThe top 3 metres of the ocean contain as much heat as the entire atmosphere. \r\n\r\nThe oceans:\r\n\r\n- accumulate, transport and slowly release energy from the Sun\r\n- are one of the key regulators of weather and climate on our planet", "images": [ - "assets/sst_large_01.jpg" + "assets/sst_large_01.jpg", + "assets/sst_large_18a.jpg", + "assets/story16-04.jpg", + "assets/sst_large_08.png", + "assets/story16-03.png" ], "imageCaptions": [ - "The top three metres of the sea contain as much heat as the entire atmosphere. (christianvizl.com)" + "The top three metres of the sea contain as much heat as the entire atmosphere (christianvizl.com)", + "Sea surface temperature map for the Atlantic coast of Europe and the western Mediterranean Sea for 28 June 2010, from a climate model that includes satellite observations (GMES-MyOcean)", + "Hurricane Dorian bearing down on the coast of Florida on 2 September 2019, after devastating the Bahamas the previous day. Dorian was a Category 5 hurricane and the most powerful storm ever recorded in the open Atlantic. (Copernicus Sentinel-3 data, processed by ESA)", + "Cross-section through the North Atlantic showing ocean temperature variation across the surface and with depth. Satellites can only measure the skin temperature of the top layer, much less than a millimetre thick (Planetary Visions)", + "The thermohaline circulation takes cold, dense water (blue) deep into the ocean and around the world. This ‘bottom water’ eventually loses its identity through mixing and warming, rising back to the surface in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and returning to the North Atlantic as warm surface water (red)." ] }, { "type": "globe", - "text": "## Earth’s Heat Pumps \r\n\r\nThe Equator receives much more energy from the Sun than the polar regions. This energy is then redistributed around the world by circulation patterns in the oceans and atmosphere. Ocean currents are driven by the rotation of the Earth, surface winds and differences in water density due to salinity and temperature variation. Warm currents such as the Gulf Stream bring heat from the Equator and the tropics to higher latitudes. This poleward transport of heat is responsible for the mild climate of western Europe.\r\n\r\nThe interactive globe on the left shows the Gulf Stream carrying warm water up the east coast of North America and across the Atlantic. In the Pacific, the Kuroshio Current warms the eastern shore of Japan, while a cold Equatorial current can usually be seen extending westwards from South America. Ocean circulation is generally clockwise in the northern hemisphere and anti-clockwise in the southern hemisphere.\r\n\r\n![SST map from climate model](assets/sst_large_18a.jpg) \r\n_Sea surface temperature map for the Atlantic coast of Europe and the western Mediterranean Sea for 28 June 2010, from a climate model that includes satellite observations. (GMES-MyOcean)_\r\n\r\n### Download Sample Data\r\n- [SST timeseries for North Sea 2010](assets/sst-ts-2010-32303-56.0696.csv)", - "shortText": "## Earth’s Heat Pumps \r\n\r\nOcean currents are driven by:\r\n\r\n- the rotation of the Earth\r\n- surface winds\r\n- differences in water density due to salinity and temperature variation \r\n\r\nWarm currents bring heat from the Equator to higher latitudes. \r\n\r\nThe Gulf Stream is responsible for the mild climate of western Europe.\r\n\r\nThe data viewer shows:\r\n\r\n- the warm Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic\r\n- the warm Kuroshio Current in the Pacific\r\n- a cold Equatorial current extending westwards from South America. \r\n- clockwise circulation in the northern hemisphere\r\n- anti-clockwise circulation in the south\r\n\r\n![SST map from climate model](assets/sst_large_18a.jpg) \r\n_Sea surface temperature map for the Atlantic coast of Europe and the western Mediterranean Sea for 28 June 2010, from a climate model that includes satellite observations. (GMES-MyOcean)_", + "text": "## Earth’s Heat Pumps \r\n\r\nThe Equator receives much more energy from the Sun than the polar regions. This energy is then redistributed around the world by circulation patterns in the oceans and atmosphere. Ocean currents are driven by the rotation of the Earth, surface winds and differences in water density due to salinity and temperature variation. Warm currents such as the Gulf Stream bring heat from the Equator and the tropics to higher latitudes. This poleward transport of heat is responsible for the mild climate of western Europe.\r\n\r\nThe interactive globe on the left shows the Gulf Stream carrying warm water up the east coast of North America and across the Atlantic. In the Pacific, the Kuroshio Current warms the eastern shore of Japan, while a cold Equatorial current can usually be seen extending westwards from South America. Ocean circulation is generally clockwise in the northern hemisphere and anti-clockwise in the southern hemisphere.\r\n\r\n### Download Sample Data\r\n- [SST timeseries for North Sea 2010](assets/sst-ts-2010-32303-56.0696.csv)", + "shortText": "## Earth’s Heat Pumps \r\n\r\nOcean currents are driven by:\r\n\r\n- the rotation of the Earth\r\n- surface winds\r\n- differences in water density due to salinity and temperature variation \r\n\r\nWarm currents bring heat from the Equator to higher latitudes. \r\n\r\nThe Gulf Stream is responsible for the mild climate of western Europe.\r\n\r\nThe data viewer shows:\r\n\r\n- the warm Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic\r\n- the warm Kuroshio Current in the Pacific\r\n- a cold Equatorial current extending westwards from South America. \r\n- clockwise circulation in the northern hemisphere\r\n- anti-clockwise circulation in the south", "flyTo": { "position": { "longitude": -41.64, @@ -44,24 +50,21 @@ ], "markers": [ { - "position": [ - "3.2303", - " 56.0696" - ], + "position": [3.2303, 56.0696], "title": "North Sea" } ] }, { "type": "video", - "text": "## Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions\r\n\r\nThe oceans and the atmosphere transport about the same amount of heat towards the poles, but the atmospheric circulation is itself partly driven by the energy exchanged during the evaporation of ocean water and its precipitation as rain. This makes the sea an important regulator of the climate and the temperature of its surface a key measurement for climate scientists.\r\n\r\nHigher sea surface temperatures allow more evaporation, giving more atmospheric water vapour, with the potential for more clouds and more rain. In the western Mediterranean, warmer sea water is a key factor in the sudden rainstorms and flash floods that afflict the coasts of France, Italy and Spain in late summer.\r\n\r\nOn a larger scale, high water temperatures in tropical oceans power extreme weather events such as hurricanes. The energy exchange between ocean and atmosphere during these events is revealed by a dip in the sea surface temperature in the wake of large hurricanes. \r\n\r\n![Hurricane Dorian, September 2019](assets/story16-04.jpg) \r\n_Hurricane Dorian bearing down on the coast of Florida on 2 September 2019, after devastating the Bahamas the previous day. Dorian was a Category 5 hurricane and the most powerful storm ever recorded in the open Atlantic. (Copernicus Sentinel-3 data, processed by ESA)_\r\n\r\n## Climate Indicators\r\nWhile the atmosphere can quickly move energy around the planet in weather systems, the ocean’s much greater capacity to store heat makes it a more stable indicator of longer-term climate trends. The rise in global average air temperature slowed down in the first decade of this century, causing some to question global warming, but the slowdown has proved temporary, with air temperature rising quickly again since 2012. The temperature of the oceans continued to rise throughout.", - "shortText": "## Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions \r\n\r\nOceans and atmosphere transport about the same amount of heat towards the poles. \r\n\r\nEnergy is also exchanged during the evaporation and condensation of water. \r\n\r\nThe sea is an important regulator of the climate and its temperature is a key measurement. \r\n\r\nHigher sea surface temperatures allow:\r\n\r\n- more evaporation\r\n- giving more atmospheric water vapour\r\n- with the potential for more clouds and more rain\r\n\r\nHigh water temperatures in tropical oceans power extreme weather events such as hurricanes. \r\n\r\nThe atmosphere can quickly move energy around the planet, but the ocean is a more stable indicator of longer-term climate trends.\r\n\r\n![Hurricane Dorian, September 2019](assets/story16-04.jpg) \r\n_Hurricane Dorian bearing down on the coast of Florida on 2 September 2019, after devastating the Bahamas the previous day. Dorian was a Category 5 hurricane and the most powerful storm ever recorded in the open Atlantic. (Copernicus Sentinel-3 data, processed by ESA)_", + "text": "## Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions\r\n\r\nThe oceans and the atmosphere transport about the same amount of heat towards the poles, but the atmospheric circulation is itself partly driven by the energy exchanged during the evaporation of ocean water and its precipitation as rain. This makes the sea an important regulator of the climate and the temperature of its surface a key measurement for climate scientists.\r\n\r\nHigher sea surface temperatures allow more evaporation, giving more atmospheric water vapour, with the potential for more clouds and more rain. In the western Mediterranean, warmer sea water is a key factor in the sudden rainstorms and flash floods that afflict the coasts of France, Italy and Spain in late summer.\r\n\r\nOn a larger scale, high water temperatures in tropical oceans power extreme weather events such as hurricanes. The energy exchange between ocean and atmosphere during these events is revealed by a dip in the sea surface temperature in the wake of large hurricanes. \r\n\r\n## Climate Indicators\r\nWhile the atmosphere can quickly move energy around the planet in weather systems, the ocean’s much greater capacity to store heat makes it a more stable indicator of longer-term climate trends. The rise in global average air temperature slowed down in the first decade of this century, causing some to question global warming, but the slowdown has proved temporary, with air temperature rising quickly again since 2012. The temperature of the oceans continued to rise throughout.", + "shortText": "## Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions \r\n\r\nOceans and atmosphere transport about the same amount of heat towards the poles. \r\n\r\nEnergy is also exchanged during the evaporation and condensation of water. \r\n\r\nThe sea is an important regulator of the climate and its temperature is a key measurement. \r\n\r\nHigher sea surface temperatures allow:\r\n\r\n- more evaporation\r\n- giving more atmospheric water vapour\r\n- with the potential for more clouds and more rain\r\n\r\nHigh water temperatures in tropical oceans power extreme weather events such as hurricanes. \r\n\r\nThe atmosphere can quickly move energy around the planet, but the ocean is a more stable indicator of longer-term climate trends.", "videoId": "NQOHggR2Tcs" }, { "type": "globe", - "text": "## Fisherman’s Friend\r\n\r\nSatellites using infrared cameras can measure the ocean temperature to within a few tenths of a degree Celsius. Maps of sea surface temperature (SST) show not only warm and cold currents, but also where deep cold water is upwelling to the surface, bringing with it the nutrients that support the world’s largest fisheries. Modern fishing fleets use SST maps from satellites to help find and follow fish on a day-to-day basis.\r\n\r\nThe data viewer on the right shows a comparison between SST and ocean chlorophyll, a measure of the abundance of phytoplankton derived from the colour of the ocean. High chlorophyll concentrations are associated with areas of cold water upwelling off the coasts of Peru, Argentina and Namibia. Cold, deep water rises when the surface water is pushed offshore by prevailing winds, bringing with it nutrients on which the plankton thrive. \r\n\r\n![Ocean temperature variation with depth](assets/sst_large_08.png) \r\n_Cross-section through the North Atlantic showing ocean temperature variation across the surface and with depth. Satellites can only measure the skin temperature of the top layer, much less than a millimetre thick. (Planetary Visions)_\r\n\r\nThe same plankton that are the base of the oceanic food chain – phytoplankton – also play a key role in the climate by absorbing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, just as plants do on land. So ocean colour is also a key climate variable.\r\n\r\nOf course, if water is welling up in some places, it must be sinking down in others…", - "shortText": "## Fisherman’s Friend\r\n\r\nMaps of SST show where deep cold water is upwelling, bringing nutrients to the surface.\r\n\r\nModern fishing fleets use SST maps from satellites to help find and follow fish. \r\n\r\nThe interactive globe shows:\r\n\r\n- a comparison between SST and ocean chlorophyll (in phytoplankton)\r\n- high chlorophyll concentrations associated with areas of cold water upwelling off the coasts of Peru, Argentina and Namibia. \r\n\r\nPhytoplankton are the base of the oceanic food chain, but also play a key role in the climate by absorbing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis.\r\n\r\n![Ocean temperature variation with depth](assets/sst_large_08.png) \r\n_Cross-section through the North Atlantic showing ocean temperature variation across the surface and with depth. Satellites can only measure the skin temperature of the top layer, much less than a millimetre thick. (Planetary Visions)_", + "text": "## Fisherman’s Friend\r\n\r\nSatellites using infrared cameras can measure the ocean temperature to within a few tenths of a degree Celsius. Maps of sea surface temperature (SST) show not only warm and cold currents, but also where deep cold water is upwelling to the surface, bringing with it the nutrients that support the world’s largest fisheries. Modern fishing fleets use SST maps from satellites to help find and follow fish on a day-to-day basis.\r\n\r\nThe data viewer on the right shows a comparison between SST and ocean chlorophyll, a measure of the abundance of phytoplankton derived from the colour of the ocean. High chlorophyll concentrations are associated with areas of cold water upwelling off the coasts of Peru, Argentina and Namibia. Cold, deep water rises when the surface water is pushed offshore by prevailing winds, bringing with it nutrients on which the plankton thrive. \r\n\r\nThe same plankton that are the base of the oceanic food chain – phytoplankton – also play a key role in the climate by absorbing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, just as plants do on land. So ocean colour is also a key climate variable.\r\n\r\nOf course, if water is welling up in some places, it must be sinking down in others…", + "shortText": "## Fisherman’s Friend\r\n\r\nMaps of SST show where deep cold water is upwelling, bringing nutrients to the surface.\r\n\r\nModern fishing fleets use SST maps from satellites to help find and follow fish. \r\n\r\nThe interactive globe shows:\r\n\r\n- a comparison between SST and ocean chlorophyll (in phytoplankton)\r\n- high chlorophyll concentrations associated with areas of cold water upwelling off the coasts of Peru, Argentina and Namibia. \r\n\r\nPhytoplankton are the base of the oceanic food chain, but also play a key role in the climate by absorbing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis.", "flyTo": { "position": { "longitude": -30.74, @@ -87,8 +90,8 @@ }, { "type": "globe", - "text": "## The Ocean’s Ups and Downs\r\n\r\nWhile upwelling is often driven by surface winds, the sinking of water into the deep ocean is largely driven by temperature and salinity, which control the density of the water. Where the North Atlantic meets cold Arctic air masses, the ocean is rapidly cooled and the formation of sea ice leaves an excess of salt behind in the water. Similar processes are at work in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica.\r\n\r\nThe interactive globe on the right shows the salinity of the ocean’s surface. Low salinity values can be seen where major rivers discharge freshwater into the ocean. The highest values show where salt is left behind in the ocean during evaporation – in the almost enclosed Mediterranean and Red Seas – or during sea ice formation, such as in the Greenland Sea.\r\n\r\n![Thermohaline circulation map](assets/story16-03.png) \r\n_The thermohaline circulation takes cold, dense water (blue) deep into the ocean and around the world. This ‘bottom water’ eventually loses its identity through mixing and warming, rising back to the surface in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and returning to the North Atlantic as warm surface water (red)._\r\n\r\nWhere sea ice forms the combination of low temperature and high salinity makes the surface water very dense, so it sinks, embarking on a thousand-year journey into the deep ocean and around the world as part of the ‘Great Ocean Conveyor Belt’, more formally known as the thermohaline circulation. The sinking of water off Norway and Greenland helps pull the North Atlantic Drift and Gulf Stream currents, with their warm tropical water, towards the pole. The thermohaline circulation is a key component of the global climate system. \r\n\r\n## Heat Sink\r\nThe connection between the ocean surface and the large mass of the deep ocean provided by the thermohaline circulation, together with the vertical motion of waves and tides, has helped the ocean absorb more than 90% of the excess heat built up over the last 50 years of global warming. This heat is penetrating deeper into the ocean, which has spared most of us from the full effects of our greenhouse gas emissions. But there is no guarantee that the ocean will continue to absorb heat at this rate. \r\n\r\n![Change in global energy inventory graph](assets/story16-01.png) \r\n_Change in global energy inventory. Plot of energy accumulation within distinct components of Earth’s climate system since 1971. The oceans are by far the biggest heat store. (IPCC AR5, 2013)_", - "shortText": "## The Ocean’s Ups and Downs\r\n\r\nUpwelling is often driven by winds, but the sinking of water into the deep ocean is largely driven by temperature and salinity.\r\n\r\nThe interactive globe shows:\r\n\r\n- Low salinity values where fresh water is discharging from major rivers\r\n- High salinity where salt is left behind by water freezing (in polar regions) or evaporating (particularly in enclosed seas)\r\n\r\nWhere sea ice forms, the cold, salty water is very dense so it sinks as part of the global thermohaline circulation.\r\n\r\nThe ocean has absorbed more than 90% of the excess heat from the last 50 years of global warming.\r\n\r\n![Thermohaline circulation map](assets/story16-03.png) \r\n_The thermohaline circulation takes cold, dense water (blue) deep into the ocean and around the world. This ‘bottom water’ eventually loses its identity through mixing and warming, rising back to the surface in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and returning to the North Atlantic as warm surface water (red)._\r\n\r\n![Change in global energy inventory graph](assets/story16-01.png) \r\n_Change in global energy inventory. Plot of energy accumulation within distinct components of Earth’s climate system since 1971. The oceans are by far the biggest heat store. (IPCC AR5, 2013)_", + "text": "## The Ocean’s Ups and Downs\r\n\r\nWhile upwelling is often driven by surface winds, the sinking of water into the deep ocean is largely driven by temperature and salinity, which control the density of the water. Where the North Atlantic meets cold Arctic air masses, the ocean is rapidly cooled and the formation of sea ice leaves an excess of salt behind in the water. Similar processes are at work in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica.\r\n\r\nThe interactive globe on the right shows the salinity of the ocean’s surface. Low salinity values can be seen where major rivers discharge freshwater into the ocean. The highest values show where salt is left behind in the ocean during evaporation – in the almost enclosed Mediterranean and Red Seas – or during sea ice formation, such as in the Greenland Sea.\r\n\r\nWhere sea ice forms the combination of low temperature and high salinity makes the surface water very dense, so it sinks, embarking on a thousand-year journey into the deep ocean and around the world as part of the ‘Great Ocean Conveyor Belt’, more formally known as the thermohaline circulation. The sinking of water off Norway and Greenland helps pull the North Atlantic Drift and Gulf Stream currents, with their warm tropical water, towards the pole. The thermohaline circulation is a key component of the global climate system. \r\n\r\n## Heat Sink\r\nThe connection between the ocean surface and the large mass of the deep ocean provided by the thermohaline circulation, together with the vertical motion of waves and tides, has helped the ocean absorb more than 90% of the excess heat built up over the last 50 years of global warming. This heat is penetrating deeper into the ocean, which has spared most of us from the full effects of our greenhouse gas emissions. But there is no guarantee that the ocean will continue to absorb heat at this rate.", + "shortText": "## The Ocean’s Ups and Downs\r\n\r\nUpwelling is often driven by winds, but the sinking of water into the deep ocean is largely driven by temperature and salinity.\r\n\r\nThe interactive globe shows:\r\n\r\n- Low salinity values where fresh water is discharging from major rivers\r\n- High salinity where salt is left behind by water freezing (in polar regions) or evaporating (particularly in enclosed seas)\r\n\r\nWhere sea ice forms, the cold, salty water is very dense so it sinks as part of the global thermohaline circulation.\r\n\r\nThe ocean has absorbed more than 90% of the excess heat from the last 50 years of global warming.", "flyTo": { "position": { "longitude": -23.75, @@ -111,8 +114,8 @@ }, { "type": "video", - "text": "## Climate Cycles\r\n\r\nThere are periodic variations in the energy exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere that change weather patterns around the world every few years. El Niño and La Niña are the warm and cool phases of a recurring climate cycle across the tropical Pacific – the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO. \r\n\r\n## El Niño\r\nDuring El Niño, the east-to-west trade winds across the Equatorial Pacific weaken, causing a build-up of warm water in the eastern Pacific, which supresses the upwelling of cold water. As the warm water builds up so does cloud cover, due to the increased evaporation of sea water. \r\n\r\n![Sea surface salinity in the Pacific](assets/story16-05.jpg) \r\n_El Niño alters the salinity of the Equatorial Pacific, as ocean currents, evaporation and rainfall patterns shift. In some years a tongue of relatively fresh water extends all the way across the Pacific. (ESA / Planetary Visions)_\r\n\r\n## La Niña\r\nWhen El Niño ends, the cold water sometimes returns stronger than ever, clearing a gap in the clouds as the local climate enters its cool phase – La Niña. These changes to ocean temperature and evaporation over the Pacific lead to changes in rainfall trends across the world. Certain areas can experience wetter or drier conditions than normal, which can lead to more flash floods, drought or wild fires.\r\n\r\nThere are periodic ocean-atmosphere disturbances elsewhere in the world, such as the Indian Ocean Dipole and the North Atlantic Oscillation.", - "shortText": "## Climate Cycles\r\n\r\nThere are periodic variations in the energy exchange between ocean and atmosphere, eg:\r\n\r\n- Indian Ocean Dipole\r\n- North Atlantic Oscillation\r\n- El Niño-Southern Oscillation\r\n\r\nEl Niño: weakening of Pacific trade winds, causing build up of warm surface water.\r\n\r\nLa Niña: strong cold tongue across Equatorial Pacific.\r\n\r\nChanges to ocean temperature and evaporation in the Pacific lead to changes in rainfall across the world. \r\n\r\nSome areas become wetter or drier than normal, leading to more floods, drought or wild fires.\r\n\r\n![Sea surface salinity in the Pacific](assets/story16-05.jpg) \r\n_El Niño alters the salinity of the Equatorial Pacific, as ocean currents, evaporation and rainfall patterns shift. In some years a tongue of relatively fresh water extends all the way across the Pacific. (ESA / Planetary Visions)_", + "text": "## Climate Cycles\r\n\r\nThere are periodic variations in the energy exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere that change weather patterns around the world every few years. El Niño and La Niña are the warm and cool phases of a recurring climate cycle across the tropical Pacific – the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO. \r\n\r\n## El Niño\r\nDuring El Niño, the east-to-west trade winds across the Equatorial Pacific weaken, causing a build-up of warm water in the eastern Pacific, which supresses the upwelling of cold water. As the warm water builds up so does cloud cover, due to the increased evaporation of sea water. \r\n\r\n## La Niña\r\nWhen El Niño ends, the cold water sometimes returns stronger than ever, clearing a gap in the clouds as the local climate enters its cool phase – La Niña. These changes to ocean temperature and evaporation over the Pacific lead to changes in rainfall trends across the world. Certain areas can experience wetter or drier conditions than normal, which can lead to more flash floods, drought or wild fires.\r\n\r\nThere are periodic ocean-atmosphere disturbances elsewhere in the world, such as the Indian Ocean Dipole and the North Atlantic Oscillation.", + "shortText": "## Climate Cycles\r\n\r\nThere are periodic variations in the energy exchange between ocean and atmosphere, eg:\r\n\r\n- Indian Ocean Dipole\r\n- North Atlantic Oscillation\r\n- El Niño-Southern Oscillation\r\n\r\nEl Niño: weakening of Pacific trade winds, causing build up of warm surface water.\r\n\r\nLa Niña: strong cold tongue across Equatorial Pacific.\r\n\r\nChanges to ocean temperature and evaporation in the Pacific lead to changes in rainfall across the world. \r\n\r\nSome areas become wetter or drier than normal, leading to more floods, drought or wild fires.", "videoId": "04NPZP9U-sc" }, { @@ -122,4 +125,4 @@ "videoId": "alu0x_bgFrE" } ] -} \ No newline at end of file +} diff --git a/storage/stories/story-16/story-16-es.json b/storage/stories/story-16/story-16-es.json index caa328c75..842a7bc6d 100644 --- a/storage/stories/story-16/story-16-es.json +++ b/storage/stories/story-16/story-16-es.json @@ -5,17 +5,13 @@ "type": "splashscreen", "text": "# Planetary Heat Pumps\r\n\r\nThe ocean and the atmosphere both redistribute heat energy around the planet, but the oceans have a much higher capacity to store heat, making them a more stable indicator of climate trends.", "shortText": "# Planetary Heat Pumps\r\n\r\nThe ocean and the atmosphere both redistribute heat energy around the planet, but the oceans have a much higher capacity to store heat, making them a more stable indicator of climate trends.", - "images": [ - "assets/sst.jpg" - ] + "images": ["assets/sst.jpg"] }, { "type": "image", "text": "## High Capacity \r\n\r\nGo for a swim in the sea on midsummers day and the water may be surprisingly chilly. Although the sun is at its highest point in the sky and there are more hours of sunlight than on any other day of the year, the sea does not reach its maximum temperature until two or three months later. This lag shows that the sea has a high heat capacity – it takes a lot of energy to change its temperature, so it is slow to heat up and slow to cool down.\r\n \r\nThis makes the sea incredibly good at storing heat. So good, that just the top three metres of the ocean contains as much heat as the entire atmosphere. The ocean’s capacity to accumulate, transport and slowly release the energy it receives from the Sun is one of the key regulators of weather and climate on our planet.", "shortText": "## High Capacity \r\n\r\nThe sea reaches its maximum temperature in the autumn.\r\n\r\nThe sea has a high heat capacity – it is:\r\n\r\n- slow to heat up, slow to cool down\r\n- very good at storing heat \r\n\r\nThe top 3 metres of the ocean contain as much heat as the entire atmosphere. \r\n\r\nThe oceans:\r\n\r\n- accumulate, transport and slowly release energy from the Sun\r\n- are one of the key regulators of weather and climate on our planet", - "images": [ - "assets/sst_large_01.jpg" - ], + "images": ["assets/sst_large_01.jpg"], "imageCaptions": [ "The top three metres of the sea contain as much heat as the entire atmosphere. (christianvizl.com)" ] @@ -44,10 +40,7 @@ ], "markers": [ { - "position": [ - "3.2303", - " 56.0696" - ], + "position": [3.2303, 56.0696], "title": "North Sea" } ] @@ -122,4 +115,4 @@ "videoId": "alu0x_bgFrE" } ] -} \ No newline at end of file +} diff --git a/storage/stories/story-16/story-16-fr.json b/storage/stories/story-16/story-16-fr.json index caa328c75..842a7bc6d 100644 --- a/storage/stories/story-16/story-16-fr.json +++ b/storage/stories/story-16/story-16-fr.json @@ -5,17 +5,13 @@ "type": "splashscreen", "text": "# Planetary Heat Pumps\r\n\r\nThe ocean and the atmosphere both redistribute heat energy around the planet, but the oceans have a much higher capacity to store heat, making them a more stable indicator of climate trends.", "shortText": "# Planetary Heat Pumps\r\n\r\nThe ocean and the atmosphere both redistribute heat energy around the planet, but the oceans have a much higher capacity to store heat, making them a more stable indicator of climate trends.", - "images": [ - "assets/sst.jpg" - ] + "images": ["assets/sst.jpg"] }, { "type": "image", "text": "## High Capacity \r\n\r\nGo for a swim in the sea on midsummers day and the water may be surprisingly chilly. Although the sun is at its highest point in the sky and there are more hours of sunlight than on any other day of the year, the sea does not reach its maximum temperature until two or three months later. This lag shows that the sea has a high heat capacity – it takes a lot of energy to change its temperature, so it is slow to heat up and slow to cool down.\r\n \r\nThis makes the sea incredibly good at storing heat. So good, that just the top three metres of the ocean contains as much heat as the entire atmosphere. The ocean’s capacity to accumulate, transport and slowly release the energy it receives from the Sun is one of the key regulators of weather and climate on our planet.", "shortText": "## High Capacity \r\n\r\nThe sea reaches its maximum temperature in the autumn.\r\n\r\nThe sea has a high heat capacity – it is:\r\n\r\n- slow to heat up, slow to cool down\r\n- very good at storing heat \r\n\r\nThe top 3 metres of the ocean contain as much heat as the entire atmosphere. \r\n\r\nThe oceans:\r\n\r\n- accumulate, transport and slowly release energy from the Sun\r\n- are one of the key regulators of weather and climate on our planet", - "images": [ - "assets/sst_large_01.jpg" - ], + "images": ["assets/sst_large_01.jpg"], "imageCaptions": [ "The top three metres of the sea contain as much heat as the entire atmosphere. (christianvizl.com)" ] @@ -44,10 +40,7 @@ ], "markers": [ { - "position": [ - "3.2303", - " 56.0696" - ], + "position": [3.2303, 56.0696], "title": "North Sea" } ] @@ -122,4 +115,4 @@ "videoId": "alu0x_bgFrE" } ] -} \ No newline at end of file +} diff --git a/storage/stories/story-16/story-16-nl.json b/storage/stories/story-16/story-16-nl.json index caa328c75..842a7bc6d 100644 --- a/storage/stories/story-16/story-16-nl.json +++ b/storage/stories/story-16/story-16-nl.json @@ -5,17 +5,13 @@ "type": "splashscreen", "text": "# Planetary Heat Pumps\r\n\r\nThe ocean and the atmosphere both redistribute heat energy around the planet, but the oceans have a much higher capacity to store heat, making them a more stable indicator of climate trends.", "shortText": "# Planetary Heat Pumps\r\n\r\nThe ocean and the atmosphere both redistribute heat energy around the planet, but the oceans have a much higher capacity to store heat, making them a more stable indicator of climate trends.", - "images": [ - "assets/sst.jpg" - ] + "images": ["assets/sst.jpg"] }, { "type": "image", "text": "## High Capacity \r\n\r\nGo for a swim in the sea on midsummers day and the water may be surprisingly chilly. Although the sun is at its highest point in the sky and there are more hours of sunlight than on any other day of the year, the sea does not reach its maximum temperature until two or three months later. This lag shows that the sea has a high heat capacity – it takes a lot of energy to change its temperature, so it is slow to heat up and slow to cool down.\r\n \r\nThis makes the sea incredibly good at storing heat. So good, that just the top three metres of the ocean contains as much heat as the entire atmosphere. The ocean’s capacity to accumulate, transport and slowly release the energy it receives from the Sun is one of the key regulators of weather and climate on our planet.", "shortText": "## High Capacity \r\n\r\nThe sea reaches its maximum temperature in the autumn.\r\n\r\nThe sea has a high heat capacity – it is:\r\n\r\n- slow to heat up, slow to cool down\r\n- very good at storing heat \r\n\r\nThe top 3 metres of the ocean contain as much heat as the entire atmosphere. \r\n\r\nThe oceans:\r\n\r\n- accumulate, transport and slowly release energy from the Sun\r\n- are one of the key regulators of weather and climate on our planet", - "images": [ - "assets/sst_large_01.jpg" - ], + "images": ["assets/sst_large_01.jpg"], "imageCaptions": [ "The top three metres of the sea contain as much heat as the entire atmosphere. (christianvizl.com)" ] @@ -44,10 +40,7 @@ ], "markers": [ { - "position": [ - "3.2303", - " 56.0696" - ], + "position": [3.2303, 56.0696], "title": "North Sea" } ] @@ -122,4 +115,4 @@ "videoId": "alu0x_bgFrE" } ] -} \ No newline at end of file +} diff --git a/storage/stories/story-28/assets/landcover-key.png b/storage/stories/story-28/assets/landcover-key.png new file mode 100644 index 000000000..4ba51ce33 Binary files /dev/null and b/storage/stories/story-28/assets/landcover-key.png differ diff --git a/storage/stories/story-28/story-28-en.json b/storage/stories/story-28/story-28-en.json index 7a4550920..79208e52c 100644 --- a/storage/stories/story-28/story-28-en.json +++ b/storage/stories/story-28/story-28-en.json @@ -11,26 +11,26 @@ }, { "type": "image", - "text": "## World on Fire\r\n\r\nWhen fire tore through eastern Australia in the summer of 2019–20, it hit parts of the country that had not seen major wildfires before. The annual bushfire season usually affects the grassland and shrubland of the interior, but this year large parts of the coastal forests burned as the country was hit by a severe heatwave, following years of drought. In addition to the human cost of the fires, it is estimated that a billion animals perished – an indication of the complexity of a forest ecosystem. Biodiversity is concentrated in forests, which contain more than 80% of all land animals and plants. Worldwide, is it estimated that a million species face extinction if forest loss continues at the current rate. As the climate warms, the time between wildfires is likely to become shorter, leaving little time for forests to recover. \r\n\r\nCoastal Australia is not the only area experiencing such extreme events. Recent years have seen extensive forest fires in other places that are not used to seeing them, including Alaska, northern Sweden and even Greenland. In Siberia, during a hot summer that set new temperature records, fires were triggered further north than usual by lightning that is becoming more frequent as the climate warms. In places, the ground itself burned when previously frozen soil thawed and carbon-rich peat dried out. Such fires can continue underground for months or even years. ESA’s World Fire Atlas, which uses satellite data to monitor fires across the globe, shows there were almost five times as many wildfires in August 2019 than in August 2018 – the largest increase since the project started in 1993.\r\n\r\n![Above-ground Biomass map](assets/biomass-map.jpg) \r\n_Above-ground biomass from ESA’s Climate Change Initiative._\r\n\r\nFire is only the most dramatic cause of many changes to the Earth’s biosphere. We have built cities across the world and even reclaimed land from the sea. Over centuries, temperate forests in Europe, Asia and North America have been cleared for agriculture. But the rapid reduction of tropical forests over the last fifty years is having an impact on many more species and a far greater amount of vegetation (biomass) than ever before. This, in turn, has important consequences for the global carbon cycle and the world’s climate. \r\n\r\nIt is estimated that land use and land use change has released at least 180 gigatonnes of carbon into the atmosphere since 1750, out of a total of 556 gigatonnes from human activity. Land use currently contributes about 23% of our annual greenhouse gas emissions, but plants and soil also absorb carbon. The land currently absorbs about twice as much carbon dioxide as it emits, but this will vary in response to environmental change and the picture is less clear for other greenhouse gases produced by agriculture, such as methane and nitrous oxide.", + "text": "## World on Fire\r\n\r\nWhen fire tore through eastern Australia in the summer of 2019–20, it hit parts of the country that had not seen major wildfires before. The annual bushfire season usually affects the grassland and shrubland of the interior, but this year large parts of the coastal forests burned as the country was hit by a severe heatwave, following years of drought. In addition to the human cost of the fires, it is estimated that a billion animals perished – an indication of the complexity of a forest ecosystem. Biodiversity is concentrated in forests, which contain more than 80% of all land animals and plants. Worldwide, is it estimated that a million species face extinction if forest loss continues at the current rate. As the climate warms, the time between wildfires is likely to become shorter, leaving little time for forests to recover. \r\n\r\nCoastal Australia is not the only area experiencing such extreme events. Recent years have seen extensive forest fires in other places that are not used to seeing them, including Alaska, northern Sweden and even Greenland. In Siberia, during a hot summer that set new temperature records, fires were triggered further north than usual by lightning that is becoming more frequent as the climate warms. In places, the ground itself burned when previously frozen soil thawed and carbon-rich peat dried out. Such fires can continue underground for months or even years. ESA’s World Fire Atlas, which uses satellite data to monitor fires across the globe, shows there were almost five times as many wildfires in August 2019 than in August 2018 – the largest increase since the project started in 1993.\r\n\r\n## Biosphere Change\r\n\r\nFire is only the most dramatic cause of many changes to the Earth’s biosphere. We have built cities across the world and even reclaimed land from the sea. Over centuries, temperate forests in Europe, Asia and North America have been cleared for agriculture. But the rapid reduction of tropical forests over the last fifty years is having an impact on many more species and a far greater amount of vegetation (biomass) than ever before. This, in turn, has important consequences for the global carbon cycle and the world’s climate. \r\n\r\nIt is estimated that land use and land use change has released at least 180 gigatonnes of carbon into the atmosphere since 1750, out of a total of 556 gigatonnes from human activity. Land use currently contributes about 23% of our annual greenhouse gas emissions, but plants and soil also absorb carbon. The land currently absorbs about twice as much carbon dioxide as it emits, but this will vary in response to environmental change and the picture is less clear for other greenhouse gases produced by agriculture, such as methane and nitrous oxide.", "shortText": "# World on Fire\r\n\r\n(placeholder)", "images": [ "assets/story28-02.jpg", "assets/story28-08.jpg", - "assets/story28-09.jpg", "assets/story28-06.jpg", - "assets/story28-03.jpg" + "assets/story28-03.jpg", + "assets/biomass-map.jpg" ], "imageCaptions": [ - "Wildfires in southeast Australia, 2020 (ESA)", + "Wildfires in southeast Australia, January 2020 (Copernicus Sentinel data, 2020, processed by ESA)", "Bushfires burning in southeast Australia on 14th January 2020 (yellow) and the areas burned since 1st September 2019 (red). Computer graphic based on data from the Suomi satellite. (Planetary Visions/NOAA/NASA)", - "Smoke obscures almost all of the US west coast as nearly 100 wildfires burn during a heatwave in September 2020 \r\n(Copernicus Sentinel data, 2020, processed by ESA)", "Elk in the Bitterroot River, Montana, during a forest fire in 2000 (John McColgan, Alaska Fire Service)", - "Wildfire in western Greenland, August 2017\r\n(Copernicus Sentinel data, 2017, processed by Pierre Markuse)" + "Wildfire in western Greenland, August 2017\r\n(Copernicus Sentinel data, 2017, processed by Pierre Markuse)", + "Above-ground biomass from ESA’s Climate Change Initiative (ESA-CCI)" ] }, { "type": "globe", - "text": "## Earth's Land Cover\r\n\r\nRegions that have similar climate and are home to similar communities of plants and animals are called biomes. They are often characterised by a dominant type of land cover, as shown on the interactive globe. Spin the globe and take a closer look at how the extent of some types of land cover has changed over recent years. You could start by exploring the loss of tropical forest in Mato Grosso, Brazil, between 1996 and 2015.\r\n\r\nMost animals and plants have evolved characteristics related to the climate of their habitat and the other organisms in the ecosystem they are part of. However, the flora and fauna of a region also affect the climate: for example, the plants of the Amazon rainforest cycle enough water from the ground to the atmosphere that they create their own weather.\r\n\r\nThe climate within a biome may also vary – the northern side of a hill may be cooler or get less rainfall than the southern side, a lake may cool the temperature of the adjacent land and provide moisture for it. Tiny areas with their own microclimate can be home to unique species unable to survive in places only a hundred metres away. With global warming, wildfires, deforestation and other human activities, even larger habitats are now changing very quickly and becoming fragmented. \r\n\r\n![High Resolution Land Cover map ](assets/story28-10.jpg) \r\n_High Resolution Land Cover map for the area around Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Urban areas including the towns of Arusha and Moshi appear in red. (ESA CCI)_\r\n\r\nThe Land Cover globe shows the dominant type of land use in areas that are 300 metres across. Scientists working with ESA’s Climate Office are using data from the Copernicus Sentinel satellites to create new maps showing land cover in areas only 10–30 m on each side which will help us monitor how habitats are changing in more detail.", + "text": "## Earth's Land Cover\r\n\r\nRegions that have similar climate and are home to similar communities of plants and animals are called biomes. They are often characterised by a dominant type of land cover, as shown on the interactive globe. Spin the globe and take a closer look at how the extent of some types of land cover has changed over recent years. You could start by exploring the loss of tropical forest in Mato Grosso, Brazil, between 1996 and 2015.\r\n\r\nMost animals and plants have evolved characteristics related to the climate of their habitat and the other organisms in the ecosystem they are part of. However, the flora and fauna of a region also affect the climate: for example, the plants of the Amazon rainforest cycle enough water from the ground to the atmosphere that they create their own weather.\r\n\r\nThe climate within a biome may also vary – the northern side of a hill may be cooler or get less rainfall than the southern side, a lake may cool the temperature of the adjacent land and provide moisture for it. Tiny areas with their own microclimate can be home to unique species unable to survive in places only a hundred metres away. With global warming, wildfires, deforestation and other human activities, even larger habitats are now changing very quickly and becoming fragmented. \r\n\r\n![Land Cover map key](assets/landcover-key.png) \r\n_ESA CCI Land Cover Types_\r\n\r\nThe Land Cover globe shows the dominant type of land use in areas that are 300 metres across. Scientists working with ESA’s Climate Office are using data from the Copernicus Sentinel satellites to create new maps showing land cover in areas only 10–30 m on each side which will help us monitor how habitats are changing in more detail.", "shortText": "# Earth's Land Cover\r\n\r\n(placeholder)", "flyTo": { "position": { @@ -53,25 +53,27 @@ }, { "type": "video", - "text": "## Responding to Change\r\n\r\nWhen a habitat changes, animals and plants may find that their adaptations are not helpful – or even actively disadvantage them – in the new environment and be forced to move elsewhere in order to survive. Pigeons, foxes and, of course, humans are among the species that have adapted to survive in cities. But individual populations of other species that were more specialised, or have been driven into areas where they face greater competition, have become extinct as a result of increased urbanisation or the extension of agriculture into previously wild areas.\r\n\r\nConversely, changing climate is increasing the range of some species, allowing them to thrive in places that were previously inhospitable to them, or changing their habitats in ways that allow the population to boom. This is not always good news for everyone. For example, several years of drought and mild winters in the 2000s allowed the mountain pine beetle to extend its range from Western North America east across the Rocky Mountains, resulting in extensive damage to commercial and natural forests that had previously been free from this pest.\r\n\r\nAn ecosystem with a high level of biodiversity is likely to be more resilient and be able to survive sudden changes. If all the animals in a food web are ultimately dependent on a single type of plant, then the entire ecosystem may collapse if that plant is affected by disease or extreme weather.\r\n\r\n## Protected Areas\r\n\r\n![Map of world’s protected areas](assets/protectedareas.png) \r\n_Map of world’s protected areas (IUCN/UNEP-WCMC)_\r\n\r\nNational parks and other conservation areas protect a range of habitats from further development or exploitation while, in some of the best cases, continuing to support local people. Where habitats are becoming fragmented, through, for example, deforestation or damming rivers, wildlife corridors can provide a safe route between areas for wider ranging or slower moving species, such as plants.", + "text": "## Responding to Change\r\n\r\nWhen a habitat changes, animals and plants may find that their adaptations are not helpful – or even actively disadvantage them – in the new environment and be forced to move elsewhere in order to survive. Pigeons, foxes and, of course, humans are among the species that have adapted to survive in cities. But individual populations of other species that were more specialised, or have been driven into areas where they face greater competition, have become extinct as a result of increased urbanisation or the extension of agriculture into previously wild areas.\r\n\r\nConversely, changing climate is increasing the range of some species, allowing them to thrive in places that were previously inhospitable to them, or changing their habitats in ways that allow the population to boom. This is not always good news for everyone. For example, several years of drought and mild winters in the 2000s allowed the mountain pine beetle to extend its range from Western North America east across the Rocky Mountains, resulting in extensive damage to commercial and natural forests that had previously been free from this pest.\r\n\r\n## Protected Areas\r\n\r\nAn ecosystem with a high level of biodiversity is likely to be more resilient and be able to survive sudden changes. But if all the animals in a food web are ultimately dependent on a single type of plant, then the entire ecosystem may collapse if that plant is affected by disease or extreme weather.\r\n\r\nNational parks and other conservation areas protect a range of habitats from further development or exploitation while, in some of the best cases, continuing to support local people. Where habitats are becoming fragmented, through, for example, deforestation or damming rivers, wildlife corridors can provide a safe route between areas for wider ranging or slower moving species, such as plants.", "shortText": "# Responding to Change\r\n\r\n(placeholder)", "videoId": "7GOthe2oTJ8" }, { "type": "image", - "text": "## No Way Out\r\n\r\nBut there is not always a way out for threatened species. Mountain and polar species are particularly vulnerable to habitat loss, since they may not have a suitable alternative anywhere in a warming world. Even where there is higher ground or a higher latitude for animals to retreat to, a rapid change may not allow time for new populations of plants to become established in these places, so animals that cannot adapt to a different diet are likely to become extinct. \r\n\r\nCoral reefs are the rainforests of the sea. Sea levels, the acidity of the ocean and sea surface temperatures are all rising and the IPCC has warned that, by the end of this century, corals may no longer be able to adapt in response to these changes. Without the reefs, populations of the species they support are in danger of collapse and, with them, the fisheries that people in many small island nations depend upon. \r\n\r\n![Coral reef, Enderby Island](assets/story28-07.jpg) \r\n_Coral reef near Enderbury Island in the Phoenix Isands Protected Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the South Pacific. (Dr Randi Rotjan, New England Aquarium)_\r\n\r\nHumans are not immune to habitat loss. Projections from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change show that the risk posed by desertification is likely to increase. Already, the loss of permafrost is causing damage to infrastructure such as roads, buildings and oil pipelines in Siberia and Alaska, and homes in the Mississippi Delta have been abandoned, partly because of sea level rise. Meanwhile, people are asking whether the risk of uncontrollable wildfires is making parts of California and Australia uninhabitable.", + "text": "## No Way Out\r\n\r\nBut there is not always a way out for threatened species. Mountain and polar species are particularly vulnerable to habitat loss, since they may not have a suitable alternative anywhere in a warming world. Even where there is higher ground or a higher latitude for animals to retreat to, a rapid change may not allow time for new populations of plants to become established in these places, so animals that cannot adapt to a different diet are likely to become extinct. \r\n\r\nCoral reefs are the rainforests of the sea. Sea levels, the acidity of the ocean and sea surface temperatures are all rising and the IPCC has warned that, by the end of this century, corals may no longer be able to adapt in response to these changes. Without the reefs, populations of the species they support are in danger of collapse and, with them, the fisheries that people in many small island nations depend upon. \r\n\r\nHumans are not immune to habitat loss. Projections from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change show that the risk posed by desertification is likely to increase. Already, the loss of permafrost is causing damage to infrastructure such as roads, buildings and oil pipelines in Siberia and Alaska, and homes in the Mississippi Delta have been abandoned, partly because of sea level rise. Meanwhile, people are asking whether the risk of uncontrollable wildfires is making parts of California and Australia uninhabitable.", "shortText": "# No Way Out \r\n\r\n(placeholder)", "images": [ + "assets/protectedareas.png", "assets/landcover_large_07.jpg", "assets/story28-05.jpg", - "assets/landcover_06.jpg", - "assets/landcover_02.jpg" + "assets/story28-07.jpg", + "assets/story28-11.jpg" ], "imageCaptions": [ + "Map of world’s protected areas (IUCN/UNEP-WCMC)", "Egmont National Park, New Zealand, as viewed by the Kompsat-2 satellite. The boundary between protected and non-protected areas is often very clear in satellite images – as we see here between the green, densely forested flanks of Mount Egmont and the surrounding agricultural landscape. (KARI/ESA)", "Field patterns in a part of Bolivia where tropical forest has been cleared for agriculture (Copernicus Sentinel data, 2019/ESA)", - "Irrigation has turned desert into farmland in Saudi Arabia. This false-colour infrared image from the Sentinel-2A satellite shows agricultural structures near Tubarjal, Saudi Arabia. The circles come from centre-pivot irrigation systems, where a long water pipe rotates around a well at the centre. (Copernicus Sentinel data 2015/ESA)", - "The fertile green territory of the River Nile contrasts starkly with the bare desert of the Sinai peninsula. Only 2.5% of Egypt's land area is suitable for agriculture, and most of it is in the Nile valley and delta. (ESA Envisat image)" + "Coral reef near Enderbury Island in the Phoenix Isands Protected Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the South Pacific (Dr Randi Rotjan, New England Aquarium)", + "Smoke obscures almost all of the US west coast as nearly 100 wildfires burn during a heatwave in September 2020 \r\n(Copernicus Sentinel data, 2020, processed by ESA)" ] }, { diff --git a/storage/stories/story-30/assets/story20-image11.jpg b/storage/stories/story-30/assets/story20-image11.jpg new file mode 100644 index 000000000..514781822 Binary files /dev/null and b/storage/stories/story-30/assets/story20-image11.jpg differ diff --git a/storage/stories/story-8/assets/ozone_16.mp4 b/storage/stories/story-8/assets/ozone_16.mp4 deleted file mode 100644 index da03f1f32..000000000 Binary files a/storage/stories/story-8/assets/ozone_16.mp4 and /dev/null differ diff --git a/storage/stories/story-8/story-8-en.json b/storage/stories/story-8/story-8-en.json index 5c76d00d3..eff24a119 100644 --- a/storage/stories/story-8/story-8-en.json +++ b/storage/stories/story-8/story-8-en.json @@ -11,22 +11,26 @@ }, { "type": "image", - "text": "## How Low Can You Go? \r\n\r\nIn the early 1980s, engineers received data from a new instrument on an American research satellite. The sensor measured so little ozone in the atmosphere over Antarctica that the readings were flagged as possible errors. But not long afterwards, British and Japanese researchers recorded similarly low amounts of ozone from their Antarctic research stations.\r\n \r\nIt was only when the ground-based results were published in the scientific literature that the low values in the satellite data were explained. They showed a wide area with very low amounts of ozone developing every spring over the South Pole. This ‘hole’ in Earth’s protective ozone layer quickly gained the attention of the media and policy-makers. And, with their data verified, scientists gained confidence in the emerging technology of Earth observation from space.\r\n\r\n## Protective Layer \r\n\r\nThe layer of ozone high up in the stratosphere is our main defence against the Sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Without it we’d suffer sunburn after a few minutes outdoors, followed by eye damage and skin cancer after prolonged exposure. Unfiltered, ultraviolet light would have prevented the development of life on Earth. \r\n\r\n![The Sun in visible and UV light](assets/story8_02.png) \r\n_The Sun in visible (left) and ultraviolet light (right), as viewed by the SOHO satellite on February 3, 2002. (ESA/NASA)_\r\n\r\nBecause it also absorbs solar radiation at infrared wavelengths, ozone is also a powerful greenhouse gas. Change in the distribution of ozone is the second largest human impact on the climate, after the increase in carbon dioxide. But, while ozone *loss* has been the concern in the stratosphere, ozone has been *increasing* at ground level. Here, ozone associated with transport and industrial pollution is a hazard to human health. Whether ozone is good or bad for you depends on where you find it.", + "text": "## How Low Can You Go? \r\n\r\nIn the early 1980s, engineers received data from a new instrument on an American research satellite. The sensor measured so little ozone in the atmosphere over Antarctica that the readings were flagged as possible errors. But not long afterwards, British and Japanese researchers recorded similarly low amounts of ozone from their Antarctic research stations.\r\n \r\nIt was only when the ground-based results were published in the scientific literature that the low values in the satellite data were explained. They showed a wide area with very low amounts of ozone developing every spring over the South Pole. This ‘hole’ in Earth’s protective ozone layer quickly gained the attention of the media and policy-makers. And, with their data verified, scientists gained confidence in the emerging technology of Earth observation from space.\r\n\r\n## Protective Layer \r\n\r\nThe layer of ozone high up in the stratosphere is our main defence against the Sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Without it we’d suffer sunburn after a few minutes outdoors, followed by eye damage and skin cancer after prolonged exposure. Unfiltered, ultraviolet light would have prevented the development of life on Earth. \r\n\r\nBecause it also absorbs solar radiation at infrared wavelengths, ozone is also a powerful greenhouse gas. Change in the distribution of ozone is the second largest human impact on the climate, after the increase in carbon dioxide. But, while ozone *loss* has been the concern in the stratosphere, ozone has been *increasing* at ground level. Here, ozone associated with transport and industrial pollution is a hazard to human health. Whether ozone is good or bad for you depends on where you find it.", "shortText": "## How Low Can You Go? \r\n\r\nIn the early 1980s scientists found alarmingly low amounts of ozone over Antarctica.\r\n \r\nThis ‘hole’ in Earth’s protective ozone layer develops every spring over the South Pole.\r\n\r\nThe layer of ozone high up in the stratosphere is our main defence against the Sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation. \r\n\r\nBecause it also absorbs solar radiation at infrared wavelengths, ozone is also a powerful greenhouse gas. \r\n\r\nChange in the distribution of ozone is the second largest human impact on the climate, after the increase in carbon dioxide. \r\n\r\nWhile ozone loss has been the concern in the stratosphere, ozone has been increasing at ground level. \r\n\r\nHere, ozone associated with transport and industrial pollution is a hazard to human health. \r\n\r\nWhether ozone is good or bad for you depends on where you find it.", "images": [ "assets/ozone_large_11.jpg", + "assets/story8_02.png", + "assets/ozone_large_03a.png", "assets/ozone_large_14.jpg", "assets/story8_04.png" ], "imageCaptions": [ - "Launching an ozone-measuring balloon over Antarctica.", - "One day of ozone observations from ERS-2 GOME.", - "Total ozone values over Antarctica recorded at the Halley research station, and by three satellite sensors, TOMS, OMI and OMPS" + "Scientists launch a high-altitude balloon carrying ozone-measuring equipment from Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in September 2013 (Kelli-Ann Bliss/NOAA)", + "The Sun in visible (left) and ultraviolet light (right), as viewed by the SOHO satellite on February 3, 2002 (ESA/NASA)", + "Chlorine acts as a catalyst for ozone destruction (Planetary Visions)", + "One day of ozone observations from ERS-2 GOME. (ESA)", + "Total ozone values over Antarctica recorded at the Halley research station, and by three satellite sensors, TOMS, OMI and OMPS (NASA-GSFC)" ] }, { "type": "globe", - "text": "## Ozone Depletion \r\n\r\nThe CCI Ozone team create monthly maps of total ozone. The interactive globe in the right shows the development of the ozone hole over Antarctica in the southern spring. Spin the globe to see \r\nhow atmospheric ozone varies with latitude and time of year. There are data gaps at the poles in the winter when there is insufficient light for the instruments to work.\r\n\r\nAtmospheric sampling from balloons and aircraft identified the causes of ozone depletion as man-made gases, particularly the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) used as a propellant in aerosol sprays, fire extinguishers and pesticides, and as a coolant in refrigerators and air conditioners. Most of these gases are harmless for human beings, but once they reach the stratosphere they are hit by solar radiation that changes their molecular structure, releasing atoms of chlorine. \r\n\r\n![Sources of stratospheric chlorine graph](assets/story8_01.png) \r\n_Sources of stratospheric chlorine are mostly human-made chemicals, such as CFCs._\r\n\r\nA single atom of chlorine can split apart a large number of ozone molecules. Although ozone depletion is a global process, atmospheric conditions including wind patterns, extremely low temperatures and stratospheric ice clouds concentrate it in the springtime in the polar regions, particularly over Antarctica.\r\n\r\n![Chlorine in ozone depletion diagram](assets/ozone_large_03a.png) \r\n_Chlorine acts as a catalyst for ozone destruction._\r\n\r\nIn 1987 severe limits on CFC emissions were agreed at an intergovernmental conference in Montreal. The wide adoption of the Montreal Protocol and the identification of safer alternatives means that CFCs have largely been phased out of use, and the ozone layer is slowly recovering. It is a good example of international cooperation to address a threat to the global environment. But CFCs have a very long lifetime in the atmosphere, and stratospheric ozone is not expected to return to 1980 levels until 2030-2060.", + "text": "## Ozone Depletion \r\n\r\nThe CCI Ozone team create monthly maps of total ozone. The interactive globe in the right shows the development of the ozone hole over Antarctica in the southern spring. Spin the globe to see \r\nhow atmospheric ozone varies with latitude and time of year. There are data gaps at the poles in the winter when there is insufficient light for the instruments to work.\r\n\r\nAtmospheric sampling from balloons and aircraft identified the causes of ozone depletion as man-made gases, particularly the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) used as a propellant in aerosol sprays, fire extinguishers and pesticides, and as a coolant in refrigerators and air conditioners. Most of these gases are harmless for human beings, but once they reach the stratosphere they are hit by solar radiation that changes their molecular structure, releasing atoms of chlorine. \r\n\r\nA single atom of chlorine can split apart a large number of ozone molecules. Although ozone depletion is a global process, atmospheric conditions including wind patterns, extremely low temperatures and stratospheric ice clouds concentrate it in the springtime in the polar regions, particularly over Antarctica.\r\n\r\nIn 1987 severe limits on CFC emissions were agreed at an intergovernmental conference in Montreal. The wide adoption of the Montreal Protocol and the identification of safer alternatives means that CFCs have largely been phased out of use, and the ozone layer is slowly recovering. It is a good example of international cooperation to address a threat to the global environment. But CFCs have a very long lifetime in the atmosphere, and stratospheric ozone is not expected to return to 1980 levels until 2030-2060.", "shortText": "## Ozone Depletion \r\n\r\nOzone is destroyed by man-made gases, particularly chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs):\r\n\r\n- used as a propellant in aerosol sprays, fire extinguishers and pesticides\r\n- and as a coolant in fridges and air conditioners\r\n- harmless for human beings\r\n- but solar radiation changes their molecular structure, releasing chlorine atoms\r\n- a single atom of chlorine can split apart a large number of ozone molecules. \r\n\r\nOzone depletion is a global process, with atmospheric conditions concentrating it in the springtime in the polar regions, particularly over Antarctica.\r\n \r\nThe 1987 Montreal Protocol set severe limits on CFC emissions. \r\n\r\nCFCs have largely been phased out of use, and the ozone layer is recovering, but CFCs have a very long lifetime. \r\n\r\nStratospheric ozone is not expected to return to 1980 levels until 2030-2060.", "flyTo": { "position": { @@ -49,24 +53,30 @@ }, { "type": "video", - "text": "## Ozone and Climate \r\n\r\nOzone and the climate are closely connected. By absorbing ultraviolet radiation ozone warms the surrounding air, so ozone loss has cooled the stratosphere. This can influence atmospheric circulation patterns, such as shifting the position of the jet stream. Beneath the ozone hole, stronger winds blowing off Antarctica may be partly responsible for the observed increase in Southern Ocean sea ice.\r\n\r\nBut stratospheric ozone depletion lets more solar energy through to the troposphere below. Here, ground-level ozone and other greenhouse gases absorb that energy. So ozone changes are pulling the temperature in opposite directions in the stratosphere and the troposphere. The overall effect has been a warming of the atmosphere.\r\n\r\n## Ground-level Ozone \r\n\r\nAlthough most ozone is found in the stratosphere – above about 15km in altitude – some is present lower down in the troposphere. Here it is formed when light interacts with combustion by-products from cars and industry, mainly nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). At ground level, ozone is harmful to human health, causing breathing difficulties that contribute to about half a million premature deaths every year. It also has a detrimental impact on vegetation growth, reducing its ability to absorb carbon dioxide, leading to crop losses valued at tens of billions of euros per year.\r\n\r\n![Chlorine in ozone depletion diagram](assets/story8_03.jpg) \r\n_Nitrogen dioxide, an ozone precursor, over Europe in January 2020 from the TROPOMI instrument on ESA’s Sentinel-5P satellite._\r\n\r\nAs with stratospheric ozone, regulations have been introduced to limit the damage. Newly-manufactured vehicles must meet internationally-agreed emission controls. The use of unleaded petrol and catalytic converters has removed a lot of the ozone-forming pollutants from car exhausts over recent decades. Similar technology is applied to factory and power station smokestacks, while simpler steps like planting trees in urban areas can also help soak up ground-level ozone.", + "text": "## Ozone and Climate \r\n\r\nOzone and the climate are closely connected. By absorbing ultraviolet radiation ozone warms the surrounding air, so ozone loss has cooled the stratosphere. This can influence atmospheric circulation patterns, such as shifting the position of the jet stream. Beneath the ozone hole, stronger winds blowing off Antarctica may be partly responsible for the observed increase in Southern Ocean sea ice.\r\n\r\nBut stratospheric ozone depletion lets more solar energy through to the troposphere below. Here, ground-level ozone and other greenhouse gases absorb that energy. So ozone changes are pulling the temperature in opposite directions in the stratosphere and the troposphere. The overall effect has been a warming of the atmosphere.\r\n\r\n## Ground-level Ozone \r\n\r\nAlthough most ozone is found in the stratosphere – above about 15km in altitude – some is present lower down in the troposphere. Here it is formed when light interacts with combustion by-products from cars and industry, mainly nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). At ground level, ozone is harmful to human health, causing breathing difficulties that contribute to about half a million premature deaths every year. It also has a detrimental impact on vegetation growth, reducing its ability to absorb carbon dioxide, leading to crop losses valued at tens of billions of euros per year.\r\n\r\nAs with stratospheric ozone, regulations have been introduced to limit the damage. Newly-manufactured vehicles must meet internationally-agreed emission controls. The use of unleaded petrol and catalytic converters has removed a lot of the ozone-forming pollutants from car exhausts over recent decades. Similar technology is applied to factory and power station smokestacks, while simpler steps like planting trees in urban areas can also help soak up ground-level ozone.", "shortText": "## Ozone and Climate \r\n\r\nBy absorbing radiation ozone warms the surrounding air, so ozone loss has cooled the stratosphere. This can influence atmospheric circulation patterns.\r\n\r\nIt also lets more solar energy through to the troposphere below, where it is absorbed by ground-level ozone and other greenhouse gases. \r\n\r\nSo ozone changes are pulling the temperature in opposite directions in the stratosphere and the troposphere. The overall effect has been a warming of the atmosphere.\r\n\r\nGround-level ozone is formed when light interacts with pollution from cars and industry, mainly nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). \r\n\r\nAt ground level, ozone is harmful to health:\r\n\r\n- causing breathing difficulties that contribute to about half a million premature deaths every year. \r\n- reducing vegetation growth, and therefore plants’ ability to absorb carbon dioxide\r\n- causing crop losses valued at tens of billions of euros per year", "videoId": "CRJycXv0zHo" }, { "type": "image", - "text": "## Ozone from Space \r\n\r\nSatellite observations are essential to track ozone distribution across the globe and at different levels in the atmosphere. They allow us to monitor the recovery of the ozone layer and calculate a UV exposure index as part of our daily weather forecasts. They also deepen our knowledge of the long-term evolution of atmospheric ozone and our understanding of how it affects the climate, and how it might respond to climate change. \r\n\r\nDifferent observation techniques allow us to distinguish between the “good” ozone in the stratosphere and the “bad” ozone in the troposphere. Satellites looking straight down produce maps of *total ozone* – the total amount of ozone in a column going from the surface to the top of the atmosphere. Total ozone is a good measure of stratospheric ozone, which accounts for about 90% of the total ozone column. \r\n\r\n![Ozone profile](assets/aerosol_large_10.jpg) \r\n_The SCIAMACHY sensor on Envisat has three modes of operation: (1) nadir mode looks vertically beneath the spacecraft; (2) limb mode looks through the atmosphere away from the Sun; (3) occultation mode looks through the atmosphere towards the Sun. (DLR-IMF)_\r\n\r\nBy looking sideways into the atmosphere, satellites can also measure the *ozone profile* – the vertical distribution of ozone from sea level up to about 50 km high. Further information is obtained by seeing how light is absorbed by different chemicals in the atmosphere when looking towards a light source – the Sun or the Moon.", + "text": "## Ozone from Space \r\n\r\nSatellite observations are essential to track ozone distribution across the globe and at different levels in the atmosphere. They allow us to monitor the recovery of the ozone layer and calculate a UV exposure index as part of our daily weather forecasts. They also deepen our knowledge of the long-term evolution of atmospheric ozone and our understanding of how it affects the climate, and how it might respond to climate change. \r\n\r\nDifferent observation techniques allow us to distinguish between the “good” ozone in the stratosphere and the “bad” ozone in the troposphere. Satellites looking straight down produce maps of *total ozone* – the total amount of ozone in a column going from the surface to the top of the atmosphere. Total ozone is a good measure of stratospheric ozone, which accounts for about 90% of the total ozone column. \r\n\r\nBy looking sideways into the atmosphere, satellites can also measure the *ozone profile* – the vertical distribution of ozone from sea level up to about 50 km high. Further information is obtained by seeing how light is absorbed by different chemicals in the atmosphere when looking towards a light source – the Sun or the Moon.", "shortText": "## Ozone from Space \r\n\r\nSatellites track ozone distribution across the globe and at different levels in the atmosphere: \r\n\r\n- to monitor the recovery of the ozone layer \r\n- to calculate a UV exposure index as part of daily weather forecasts. \r\n- to deepen our knowledge of how ozone affects the climate, and how it might respond to climate change.\r\n\r\nDifferent observation techniques distinguish between the “good” ozone in the stratosphere and the “bad” ozone in the troposphere:\r\n\r\n- Satellites look straight down to measure total ozone – a good measure of stratospheric ozone, which accounts for about 90% of the total ozone column. \r\n- By looking sideways into the atmosphere satellites measure the ozone profile – the vertical distribution of ozone from sea level up to about 50 km high.", "images": [ - "assets/ozone_data_profile_large.jpg" + "assets/ozone_data_profile_large.jpg", + "assets/story8_03.jpg", + "assets/aerosol_large_10.jpg", + "assets/ozone_large_09.png" ], "imageCaptions": [ - "Ozone profile showing a section through the atmosphere from sea level up to a height of 40km, centred on longitude 50°West, with the north pole on the left and the south pole on the right. (Satellite observations assimilated into the chemical transport model TM5.)" + "Ozone profile showing a section through the atmosphere from sea level up to a height of 40km, centred on longitude 50°West, with the north pole on the left and the south pole on the right. (Satellite observations assimilated into the chemical transport model TM5.) (Planetary Visions/ESA-CCI)", + "Nitrogen dioxide, an ozone precursor, over Europe in January 2020 from the TROPOMI instrument on ESA’s Sentinel-5P satellite (ESA)", + "The SCIAMACHY sensor on Envisat has three modes of operation: (1) nadir mode looks vertically beneath the spacecraft; (2) limb mode looks through the atmosphere away from the Sun; (3) occultation mode looks through the atmosphere towards the Sun. (DLR-IMF)", + "Satellites and sensors used by the CCI Ozone team to produce merged total ozone maps" ] }, { "type": "video", - "text": "## Stacking Up the Data\r\n\r\nThe CCI Ozone team has worked on data from satellite missions covering more than two decades of continuous ozone observations since 1995. Each space-borne sensor has its own radiometric characteristics, spatial resolution and coverage, making the calibration and merging of the data a complex task. The resulting integrated datasets have the advantage of providing better spatial coverage than those from individual sensors, and allow time series to exceed the life of a single instrument, giving the long-term trends so crucial for climate studies. They have enabled a better understanding of natural and human factors affecting the distribution of atmospheric ozone and improved our understanding of ozone processes in climate models. \r\n\r\n![Ozone sensors](assets/ozone_large_09.png) \r\n_Satellites and sensors used by the CCI Ozone team to produce merged total ozone maps._\r\n\r\nJust as individuals can use daily UV and air quality warnings based on satellite data to protect their own health and that of their children, scientists are using the same observations from space to track the effect of ozone on the climate, so that political leaders have the information they need to make decisions and take action to protect us all. Emission controls will continue to reduce ozone destruction in the stratosphere and limit ozone creation in the troposphere, and provide successful examples of international cooperation to solve an environmental problem.", + "text": "## Stacking Up the Data\r\n\r\nThe CCI Ozone team has worked on data from satellite missions covering more than two decades of continuous ozone observations since 1995. Each space-borne sensor has its own radiometric characteristics, spatial resolution and coverage, making the calibration and merging of the data a complex task. The resulting integrated datasets have the advantage of providing better spatial coverage than those from individual sensors, and allow time series to exceed the life of a single instrument, giving the long-term trends so crucial for climate studies. They have enabled a better understanding of natural and human factors affecting the distribution of atmospheric ozone and improved our understanding of ozone processes in climate models. \r\n\r\nJust as individuals can use daily UV and air quality warnings based on satellite data to protect their own health and that of their children, scientists are using the same observations from space to track the effect of ozone on the climate, so that political leaders have the information they need to make decisions and take action to protect us all. Emission controls will continue to reduce ozone destruction in the stratosphere and limit ozone creation in the troposphere, and provide successful examples of international cooperation to solve an environmental problem.", "shortText": "## Stacking Up the Data\r\n\r\nThe CCI Ozone team has worked on:\r\n\r\n- data from four satellite missions\r\n- covering more than two decades of continuous ozone observations since 1995\r\n- providing better spatial coverage than data from individual sensors\r\n- giving the long-term trends so crucial for climate studies\r\n- enabling a better understanding of the factors affecting the distribution of atmospheric ozone \r\n- improving our understanding of ozone processes in climate models\r\n\r\nIndividuals can use daily UV and air quality warnings based on satellite data to protect their family’s health. \r\n\r\nScientists are using the same observations from space to track ozone’s effect on the climate. \r\n\r\nEmission controls have:\r\n- reduced ozone destruction in the stratosphere\r\n- limited ozone creation in the troposphere\r\n- provided successful examples of international cooperation to solve an environmental problem", "videoId": "5s4rqA8D4fk" }