Spotlight #5 — Climate, Ecology & Environment

Simulations in category

Sub-categories

Core models

Climate and ecology simulations are fundamentally different from physics sims: they model systems rather than particles. Feedback loops, tipping points, emergent stability — these are hard to convey with a diagram, but intuitive to explore interactively. Every simulation in this category was designed to let you test a hypothesis: what happens if I change this one parameter?

The Simulations

Atmospheric & Climate Science

🌍 Carbon Cycle Interactive flows between atmosphere, ocean, biosphere, and lithosphere reservoirs. Adjust fossil fuel emissions, deforestation, and ocean acidification to see long-term atmospheric CO₂. Box Model · Differential Equations 🌡️ Atmosphere Layers Temperature, pressure, and density profiles through the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere. Interactive altitude probe with real atmospheric data. US Standard Atmosphere · Canvas 2D 🌀 Cyclone & Coriolis How the Coriolis effect drives anticyclonic rotation in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Particle trajectories on a rotating sphere, animated in real time. Rotating Reference Frame · Three.js ☁️ Cloud Formation Moist air rises, cools adiabatically, and condenses — a cellular model of convective clouds with adjustable humidity and environmental lapse rate. Atm. Thermodynamics · Canvas 2D

Ecology & Population Dynamics

🦠 Disease Spread (SIR/SEIR) The classic SIR model extended to SEIR with incubation period, vaccination rate, and social distancing. See why R₀ > 1 leads to exponential growth. SIR / SEIR Model · ODE 🏙️ City Growth Urban sprawl as a reaction-diffusion process — residential, commercial, and industrial zones emerge from simple local interaction rules, mimicking real zoning patterns. Cellular Automata · Urban Modelling 🐜 Ant Colony & Pheromone Trails Ant colony optimisation — stigmergic foraging where thousands of simple agents collectively find shortest paths through pheromone deposition and evaporation. ACO Algorithm · Agent-Based 🌊 Aphotic Zone Light attenuation in the ocean — how phytoplankton, dissolved organics, and particles absorb light across the photic and aphotic zones. Beer-Lambert law. Beer-Lambert Law · Canvas 2D

Disaster & Risk Modelling

☄️ Asteroid Deflection NASA's DART mission physics — kinetic impactor trajectory, momentum transfer, and how a small delta-v applied years in advance moves a body away from an Earth intercept. N-body Mechanics · Three.js 💥 Ballistics & Drag Projectile trajectories with realistic drag (Cd), Magnus effect spin, wind, and elevation — applicable to meteorology, environmental impact, and range estimation. Atmospheric Drag · RK4 🏦 Bank Run (Systemic Risk) A systemic risk cascade model — how individual rational decisions create irrational collective outcomes. Contagion through interbank networks modelled as a graph. Network Contagion · Graph Theory

Core Models

Box Model (Carbon Cycle) SIR / SEIR Epidemiology US Standard Atmosphere Adiabatic Lapse Rate Ant Colony Optimisation Network Contagion Beer-Lambert Law Urban Cellular Automata Coriolis Effect

Recommended Learning Path

Start with impact: Disease Spread is immediately relatable and the SIR model is covered in many school curricula. Then Carbon Cycle for climate literacy. Cyclone & Coriolis adds physical geography, and City Growth bridges ecology and urban planning.

For Educators

The Disease Spread simulation was used during COVID-19 outreach to explain what "flattening the curve" means. The SIR model's three parameters — infection rate β, recovery rate γ, and initial susceptible fraction — are directly adjustable, making it ideal for science communication lessons.

The Carbon Cycle box model is unique in having a time axis that runs to 2100, allowing students to compare IPCC scenarios by adjusting emission trajectories themselves. Each simulation in this category has an accompanying "Did you know?" panel that links the model to real-world data and events.