Supercomputer could predict weather 30 years into the future

Japanese scientists say they hope to use one of the world's fastest supercomputers to predict weather forecasts up to 30 years into the future.

Japan's science ministry hopes the Earth Simulator supercomputer, housed in the city of Yokohama, will be able to calculate long-term patterns in atmospheric pressure, air/sea temperatures, and ocean currents.

The scientists also plan to use the machine to measure rainfall and movement of the Earth's crust.

These statistics will be used to predict when natural disasters - like typhoons, droughts, and tsunamis - could happen.

But, the scientists warn, for those planning vacations in summer of 2036, these will be general trends and are not intended to serve as detailed forecasts.

The Earth Simulator was introduced in 2002 and was considered one of the fastest supercomputers in the world until IBM's Blue Gene premiered in 2004.

The $350 million (US) simulator can perform up to 35.6 trillion calculations a second. In comparison, the average desktop PC performs a mere 3 billion calculations a second.

In the future, Japanese scientists hope the Earth Simulator will be able to predict forecasts for any area in the world.

Eventually, they say the Earth Simulator could even perform forecasts for areas as small as five square kilometers.

Photography: State Climate Office of North Carolina

Source: Discovery Channel Reports, July 18 edition