The European Union presented a system of digital replicas of planet Earth, to simulate the repercussions of climate change, developed through the use of supercomputing and artificial intelligence.
This system aims to predict future climate scenarios that put the survival of humans and other species at risk, with unprecedented precision, along with allowing each sector of society to adapt to the impact of this phenomenon.
This project was titled “Destination Earth”, and Margrethe Vestager, vice president of the European Commission responsible for said digitalization, highlighted to the media, which is an opportunity to analyze the planet in detail and show how environmental policies affect the climate.
The developed system offers detailed simulations of planet Earth that will be very useful in various sectors, such as agriculture, renewable energy and water management.
Providing critical information for adaptation to climate change, This tool allows the prediction of complex climate phenomena and their socioeconomic impactss, which is essential to improve decision making and the design of mitigation strategies.
Vestager emphasized the importance of using this tool to limit the rise in global temperatures to less than 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century.
The “Destination Earth” project, which integrates artificial intelligence, will allow scientists and policymakers to explore the evolution of the Earth system under various hypothetical scenarios over several decades.
Although some applications of the system will be available to the general public, most will be reserved for research centers and public entities due to the high consumption of computational resources necessary to run the simulations.
Likewise, the precise and dynamic simulations of the system, Fed by vast observational data sets, they will provide tools to anticipate the regional impacts of climate change, detect natural hazards and manage ecosystems more effectively.
The leaders of this advance highlighted the potential of this initiative to protect biodiversity and manage vital resources in a changing global environment, pointing out that science and technology must work together to face today’s challenges.
This system has been developed since 2021 by a collaboration between the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, the European Space Agency and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, with the support of more than one hundred public and private partners.
The technological heart of the project is located in the LUMI EuroHPC supercomputer, located in Kajaani, Finland. This location used is a very particular one, as it is located in the facilities of an old mill, which has made it possible to minimize costs and environmental impacts.
In addition to LUMI, the supercomputer is among five that the EU will operate for such projects, including MareNostrum 5 in Barcelona and Leonardo in Bologna, underlining Europe’s impressive technological capacity in the field of supercomputing.
These technological advances not only benefit Europe, but they also have the potential to influence globallyproviding critical information that countries around the world can use to adjust their strategies to combat and adapt to climate change.
The technology underlying this system is based on advanced supercomputing resources, data and artificial intelligence developed in the European Union.
Initial financing for the system amounted to 210 million euros, coming from community funds, and an additional investment of 168 million euros is expected in the next two years to expand its capacities.
This system of digital replicas of planet Earth exemplifies how the combination of resources and advanced technology can offer effective and powerful solutions to one of the most pressing problems of this time.
The European Commission has launched a tool that promises to change the way climate change is understood and responded to, both regionally and globally.
