Supercomputer used to predict climate change is one of Britian's worst polluters.
45 replies, posted
:siren:[I] Irony Alert![/I] :siren:
[quote=sauces]The Met Office has caused a storm of controversy after it was revealed their £30million supercomputer designed to predict climate change is one of Britain's worst polluters.
The massive machine - the UK's most powerful computer with a whopping 15 million megabytes of memory - was installed in the Met Office's headquarters in Exeter, Devon.
It is capable of 1,000 billion calculations every second to feed data to 400 scientists and uses 1.2 megawatts of energy to run - enough to power more than 1,000 homes.
computer
The computer used 1.2 megawatts to run - enough to power 1,000 homes
The machine was hailed as the 'future of weather prediction' with the ability to produce more accurate forecasts and produce climate change modelling.
However the Met Office's HQ has now been named as one of the worst buildings in Britain for pollution - responsible for more than 12,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
It says 75 per cent of its carbon footprint is produced by the super computer meaning the machine is officially one of the country's least green machines.
Green campaigners say it is 'ironic' that a computer designed to help stave-off climate change is responsible for such high levels of pollution.
But Met Office spokesman Barry Grommett said the computer was 'vital' to British meteorology and to help predict weather and environmental change.
He said: 'We recognise that it is big but it is also necessary. We couldn't do what we do without it.
'We would be throwing ourselves back into the dark ages of weather forecasting if we withdrew our reliance on supercomputing, it's as simple as that.'
The figures have been published by the Department of Communities and Local Government which calculated the ratings and emissions of every public building in the country.
Enlarge tents
The supercomputer predicted a BBQ summer, which didn't materialise. Here Max Preston, 7, paddles around flooded tents in the Lake District
Other buildings which appear in the list with a high carbon footprint include hospitals and large leisure centres.
The supercomputer - more powerful than 100,000 standard PCs - was installed in the Met Office's new £80 million headquarters in May.
It processes information from satellite images and was hailed as capable of predicting disastrous weather events that were previously unforeseeable such as the infamous hurricane of 1987.
The IBM machine has a peak performance of 1 'Petaflop' - 1,000 billion calculations per second - which it will not reach until 2011.
It is the second time the Met Office has been criticised this year - after the machine famously helped predict a "BBQ summer" which turned out to be another wash-out.
Despite its lack of green credentials Mr Grommett said the rating process was "fundamentally flawed" and claimed its carbon footprint was more than offset by the benefits it delivers.
These included saving lives through severe weather warnings while its forecasting for the global aviation industry saved an estimated 20 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.
Friends of the Earth spokesman Maurice Spurway said: 'Life is full of ironies and I think this is one of those situations.'[/quote]
[url]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1209430/Weather-supercomputer-used-predict-climate-change-Britains-worst-polluters.html[/url]
Oh wow. What'd the brits need a forecast machine for anyway, I've got the mental image that it's raining whenever it's not foggy.
[highlight](User was banned for this post ("Trolling" - verynicelady))[/highlight]
It's always raining here so we don't notice the difference.
Where's my giant iron with the E painted on the bottom?
[QUOTE=scout-on-a-train;17000024]Oh wow. What'd the brits need a forecast machine for anyway, I've got the mental image that it's raining whenever it's not foggy.[/QUOTE]
Oh wow, what'd the americans need a menu for anyway? I've got the mental image that they're scoffing down everything in sight.
[highlight](User was banned for this post ("Trolling" - verynicelady))[/highlight]
[QUOTE=qurl;17000094]Oh wow, what'd the americans need a menu for anyway? I've got the mental image that they're scoffing down everything in sight.[/QUOTE]
But it is always raining here in england.
Or its overcast or foggy or snowy or sleet or hail.
They should take some pointers from Google.
[quote]The massive machine - the UK's most powerful computer with a whopping [b]15 million megabytes of memory[/b] - was installed in the Met Office's headquarters in Exeter, Devon.
[/quote]
Um. What?
[QUOTE=jordguitar;17000129]Um. What?[/QUOTE]
The super computer doesn't run windows, only linux.
[QUOTE=pieman;17000169]The super computer doesn't run windows, only linux.[/QUOTE]
But 15 GIGS of ram for a super computer?
Seriously that must be a typo.
[QUOTE=qurl;17000094]Oh wow, what'd the americans need a menu for anyway? I've got the mental image that they're scoffing down everything in sight.[/QUOTE]
Well that's a great way to fail at stereotyping.
[QUOTE=jordguitar;17000182]But 15 GIGS of ram for a super computer?
Seriously that must be a typo.[/QUOTE]
It's just two 7.5 super processors.
They do exist.
[QUOTE=jordguitar;17000182]But 15 GIGS of ram for a super computer?
Seriously that must be a typo.[/QUOTE]
Uhhh try 15,000 gb of ram.
15 million = 15,000,000 mb
1,000 mb = 1 Gig
:irony: That is retarded.
[QUOTE=KorJax;17000264]Uhhh try 15,000 gb of ram.
15 million = 15,000,000 mb
1,000 mb = 1 Gig[/QUOTE]
I suck at math and am on hold with tmobile
Go figure
[QUOTE=jordguitar;17000293]I suck at math and am on hold with tmobile
Go figure[/QUOTE]
Riding the shortbus?
[QUOTE=qurl;17000094]Oh wow, what'd the americans need a menu for anyway? I've got the mental image that they're scoffing down everything in sight.[/QUOTE]
Agreed.
[QUOTE=jordguitar;17000182]But 15 GIGS of ram for a super computer?
Seriously that must be a typo.[/QUOTE]
This article is written for dumb people who read the Daily Mail. It's probably talking about hard drive space.
[quote]The Met Office has caused a storm[/quote]
lol!!!
:siren: DAILYMAIL :siren:
It's important, I'd rather know what the weather was like in the next week than save a little energy. 1000 homes isn't that much energy really.
Can it play Crysis
[QUOTE=Latias;17000843]Can it play Crysis[/QUOTE]
Crysis doesn't work on Linux.
[QUOTE=qurl;17000094]Oh wow, what'd the americans need a menu for anyway? I've got the mental image that they're scoffing down everything in sight.[/QUOTE]
Oh wow, why'd the 11 year old english kids need dentists for anyway? I've got the mental image that their teeth are already beyond repair.
:smug:
[QUOTE=debmaster;17000885]Oh wow, why'd the 11 year old english kids need dentists for anyway? I've got the mental image that their teeth are already beyond repair.
:smug:[/QUOTE]
Oh wow, Why'd the Americans need a free health care service anyway? I've got the mental image that their bodys are already beyond repair.
:smug: :smug:
Actually it's the faggots trying to blame the recent scientist's findings faulty by saying the computer is gay.
I'm not surprised. Damn Al gore and his underground mafia :argh:
[QUOTE=pieman;17000908]Oh wow, Why'd the Americans need a free health care service anyway? I've got the mental image that their bodys are already beyond repair.
:smug: :smug:[/QUOTE]
Rated dumb because your failure at a joke mentioned "free" health care.
[QUOTE=Hunterbrute;17001121]Rated dumb because your failure at a joke mentioned "free" health care.[/QUOTE]
Sorry, I could say Extremely Cheap almost as if it is free Health Care where you don't have to pay 8000 Dollars to wait for 2 hours, but I didn't.
[QUOTE=pieman;17000908]Oh wow, Why'd the Americans need a free health care service anyway? I've got the mental image that their bodys are already beyond repair.
:smug: :smug:[/QUOTE]
:v:
This article is embarrassingly sensational with numbers.
[quote]whopping 15 million megabytes of memory[/quote]
15 terabytes, asshole. I'm surprised they resisted the urge to say "15 quadrillion bytes"
[quote]1,000 billion[/quote]
:sigh:
[quote]responsible for more than 12,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year[/quote]
Throwing out a large number attached to a measurement no one is familiar with...
[quote]more powerful than 100,000 standard PCs[/quote]
15,000,000/ 100,000= 150
Apparently the "standard pc" only has 150 mb RAM.
[quote][B]It is capable of 1,000 billion calculations every second[/B] to feed data to 400 scientists and uses [b]1.2 megawatts of energy to run - enough to power more than 1,000 homes[/b].
computer
The computer used [b]1.2 megawatts to run - enough to power 1,000 homes[/b].
...The IBM machine has a peak performance of 1 'Petaflop' - [B]1,000 billion calculations per second[/B][/quote]
Hey, how about you repeat yourself some more?
God I hate these kinds of journalists.
[QUOTE=pieman;17000036]It's always raining here so we don't notice the difference.[/QUOTE]
Hmm, I always hear this, but how true is it really? The one time I went to London for a week, it rained once, for about 10 minutes. The rest of the time it was sunny and warm . . .
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