Earth Science

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 some of the world’s most powerful supercomputers to advance the boundaries of the international Community Climate System Model to simulate the behavior of the world’s oceans and atmosphere, 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.

Current Active Earth Science Projects