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Concentric rings of starlight sweep across the night sky as Earth rotates beneath the cosmos, creating luminous arcs around Mauna Loa Observatory's air sampling tower illuminated in red warning lights. This remarkable time-lapse composite, created from 134 separate 30-second exposures merged into a single image spanning over one hour, reveals both the patient work of scientists monitoring our atmosphere and the celestial ballet overhead that has guided observers for millennia. At this remote high-altitude station, researchers have meticulously documented rising carbon dioxide levels since the 1950s through the iconic Keeling Curve, while also tracking greenhouse gases, ozone-depleting compounds, solar radiation, and atmospheric aerosols that collectively tell the story of humanity's growing impact on Earth's climate system. The sampling tower extends high above the observatory buildings to capture pristine air from the free troposphere, untainted by local pollution, providing crucial baseline measurements that serve as a planetary vital sign in our understanding of global climate change.
Copyright
Jonathan Kingston
Image Size
3412x5128 / 16.5MB
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Contained in galleries
MAUNA LOA OBSERVATORY | CO2 MILESTONES AND CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH, Mauna Loa Observatory: Monitoring Earth's Climate Pulse, HAWAII OBSERVATORIES
Concentric rings of starlight sweep across the night sky as Earth rotates beneath the cosmos, creating luminous arcs around Mauna Loa Observatory's air sampling tower illuminated in red warning lights. This remarkable time-lapse composite, created from 134 separate 30-second exposures merged into a single image spanning over one hour, reveals both the patient work of scientists monitoring our atmosphere and the celestial ballet overhead that has guided observers for millennia. At this remote high-altitude station, researchers have meticulously documented rising carbon dioxide levels since the 1950s through the iconic Keeling Curve, while also tracking greenhouse gases, ozone-depleting compounds, solar radiation, and atmospheric aerosols that collectively tell the story of humanity's growing impact on Earth's climate system. The sampling tower extends high above the observatory buildings to capture pristine air from the free troposphere, untainted by local pollution, providing crucial baseline measurements that serve as a planetary vital sign in our understanding of global climate change.