Mesmerizing NASA Video Shows How All Natural Disasters Are Connected

November 20, 2017

It looks like a giant lava lamp, but NASA scientists say it's one of the most detailed atmospheric analyses they've ever done.

We often think of natural disasters as isolated events, but a colorful new animation from NASA illustrates how everything that happens in our atmosphere is connected.

The video (above) combines NASA's global satellite data with intricate supercomputer models to track the movement of three types of particles in our atmosphere: Dust, smoke, and sea salt. By tracking those particles it's easy to see otherwise invisible things, like how the atmosphere churns on a large scale.

Scientists hope the new visualization technique will help improve their understanding of global weather patterns, eventually leading to better weather predictions.