Current simulation

Organograph runs live Carbon Cycle simulations, back to back.

Each simulation covers a timespan of 200 years, from 1910 to 2110. Each simulation runs at 1000x real-time, hence lasting about two months.

At the beginning of each simulation, the atmosphere is unadulterated by anthropogenic CO2. As the simulation progresses, the rate of fossil fuel extraction exactly mirrors the actual data from history. Visitors can see the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere increase with respect to the Simulation Clock, as the virtual years go by.

At the point in each simulation when the Simulation Clock exactly matches the World Clock, the proportion of black marbles in the simulation exactly equals the current proportion of anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere. On this day, a sample of the simulation marbles is drawn from the Carbon Cycle Model, and added as pavement to extend the CO2 Path in the History Garden.

From this point forward in the simulation, the Carbon Cycle Model draws its fossil fuel rate input from a Simulation Scenario, and produces simulated data about what will be if the scenario plays out in the real world.

These scenarios will be different on each repetition, and the type of scenario being run will be determined by the Organograph curatorial community. Examples of possible scenarios could be those chosen by the IPCC for study in its Fourth Assessment Report, or those based on possible future scenarios based on current events.