YOU can research global warming!
Date: Saturday, June 26, 2004 @ 23:25:30 UTC
Topic: Science
Mike Johnston writes: Hi,
Below is a story that I thought might interest some of my readers. It is a way you can use your own PC to participate in creating a model of possible outcomes should the Gulf Stream shut down. Kind of like the SETI program to search for signals from extraterrestrial civilizations. Cool stuff. MJ
GULF STREAMING MEDIA Distributed Computer Simulation of Catastrophic Global Warming Spreads
Lots of folks who saw the recent global warming blockbuster "The Day After Tomorrow" have what might charitably be called uncertainties about the veracity of the science behind the plot. Now, in the U.K., a consortium of universities and the Met Office (weather and environmental services) are offering computer users a way to play a role in fact-checking the film. They want to run a massive, distributed computer model to find out what would happen if, as in the film, the flow of the Gulf Stream was radically altered (not, they stress, whether it is likely to happen, but what would happen if it did). Problem is, running such a simulation requires more computational power than even the world's most powerful computer contains -- so the group is inviting participants to download unique software packages from climateprediction.net, each of which runs a slightly different, "physically probable" model in the background while the user does other stuff (say, reads Grist) (or even The Hydrogen News, [shameless plug inserted in this copyrighted story by me]). The results are then sent to the project's organizers. Stay tuned for a possible sequel!
straight to the source: BBC News, Alex Kirby, 22 Jun 2004
www.gristmagazine.com
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