Climate

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Climate scientists are striving to discover exactly how human behavior is changing the earth’s climate and the steps we need to take now to secure the environment for our children’s children. To meet this challenge, they must be able to predict the behavior of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted from cars, factories, and other sources to the earth’s forests, oceans, and atmosphere. Armed with this knowledge, researchers will be a step closer to anticipating our changing climate and telling us what regions are likely to be wetter or drier, hotter or colder.

The task requires leadership computing. At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, researchers use the world’s most powerful open science computer to advance the boundaries of the international Community Climate System Model to simulate the behavior of the world’s oceans and to model abrupt climate change. Their results will help us understand what we need to do to keep the earth a nurturing and hospitable place.

Climate Projects

The Role of Eddies in the Meridional Overturning Circulation

  • PI: Paola Cessi, University of California, San Diego
  • Phoenix: 486,000 hours

Assessing Global Climate Response of the NCAR-CCSM3: CO2 Sensitivity and Abrupt Climate Change

  • PI: Zhengyu Liu, University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • Phoenix: 420,000 processor hours

Eulerian and Lagrangian Studies of Turbulent Transport in the Global Ocean

  • PI: Synte Peacock, ASC/Alliance Flash Center, University of Chicago
  • Jaguar: 3,163,000 hours

Climate-Science Computational End Station Development and Grand Challenge Team

  • PI: Warren Washington, National Center for Atmospheric Research
  • Jaguar: 15,718,000 hours

Modeling Reactive Flows in Porous Media

  • PI: Peter Lichtner, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Jaguar: 1,800,000 processor hours