This website is an atmosphere design lab from the Smithsonian Institute. You can adjust the levels of carbon dioxide, oxygen or ozone in the atmosphere. Once you choose a gas, there are statistics about the levels of that gas in the atmosphere and what would happen if you changed the levels. There are also helpful examples from other points in history when different levels of these gases were present. For example, if you have more oxygen than the average amounts found on earth today, there would be a chance of things spontaneously combusting. This interactive site is helpful for people who want to learn more about the composition of the earth’s atmosphere but don’t know where to start.
URL: http://forces.si.edu/atmosphere/interactive/html/index.htm
A picture of the site is below.
This is a very interesting and informative website. I agree that it would be a very useful tool in teaching people about our atmosphere, both the historic and present. In the midst of climate change it is also important that people know what effects the atmosphere can have on their health, especially an increase in Ozone!
The interactive “what if” aspect of this site is very engaging and is a creative way to inform people on atmospheric composition. It’s really cool how the site can display the importance of the atmosphere on different components of Earth’s health in these customizable hypothetical situations.
What a cool website! I do wish that it provided links for further reading – I’m really curious about the mechanisms involved in an increase in oxygen making things spontaneously combust!
This website is so beautifully made, the very short, thorough, and digestible explanations of each option make it super accessible to the average reader. I only wish there was more of a “what must we do to keep the atmosphere where it should be?”.