The predominant wind direction varies depending where on the planet you are. Somewhere such as India that lies within the Tropical region is dominated by the Trade Winds which generally blow from the east and the northeast.
The wind patterns are caused by two main factors. The first is that the Equatorial region is the hottest part of the planet and so the air here is heated up and rises, as it rises it spreads out toward the poles where it cools and descends, it then makes it’s way back towards the Equator. Also, the Earth is spinning and this deflects the winds off course (the coriolis effect). Locally winds are affected by terrain, proximity to seas and oceans, altitude, vegetation etc.
As soon as CO2 is released from it’s source it starts to dissipate out of the atmosphere – some is absorbed by plant material as part of the photosynthetic process, some reacts chemically and forms other compounds, some is absorbed into the oceans etc; but it’s a very slow process. An average molecule of CO2 remains in the atmosphere for about 115 years.
Because there are winds circulating all around the planet, any gas that is released will be readily mixed into the rest of the atmosphere. As such, the CO2 released in India will soon find it’s way to all parts of the globe.
It takes on average about three weeks for air to circumnavigate the planet and we see this happening when major volcanoes erupt. The biggest eruption in recent times was in 1991 when Mount Pinatubo erupted, the plume of ash and debris rose high into the air, was carried off by the winds and three weeks later had gone right around the planet.
After about six months any material released into the atmosphere will be so well mixed that it will be evenly distributed throughout the entire atmosphere. It’s for this reason that CO2 levels are as high at the South Pole as they are in industrialised nations.
Another thing to consider, almost all the CO2 that is naturally absorbed goes into the oceans (121 gigatonnes per year) or is absorbed by plant mass (80 gigatonnes per year). Given that at altitude there is very little vegetation, than the amount of CO2 absorbed within the Himalayan mountains will be very small.
Nope. The carbon dioxide blows right over the Himalayas.
No, the Co2 goes higher than that. Now back carbon may end up there.
No
NO
