Sea Shore Antics

[administration]

Climate Change Season on BBC Four.
BBC Four presents a series of programmes about climate change and

launches the largest climate experiment in the world.

Below is information on:
1. Meltdown - the program.
2. About the experiment.
3.

The link to find out more and download the software to participate.


1. Meltdown - the program
Paul Rose is

a modern-day explorer. He’s spent many years in Antarctica and the Arctic, organising scientific expeditions. Now he sees evidence that the polar regions are in danger -

from climate change. So he decides to try and find out the truth about global warming: what's really going on with our climate, and what's it going to mean for the

future?

He starts by asking how the climate has changed in the past. Are the changes we’re seeing now part of a natural cycle, or are they something we’ve

brought upon ourselves? And what can Viking voyages, the freezing of the Thames and ancient Bronze Age settlements on Dartmoor tell us abut how our climate is

changing?

His quest comes up against a fundamental problem - a lack of computing power necessary to model what effect global warming will have in the future.

But he meets a scientist with a brilliant idea. By making use of your computer - and thousands like it all over the world - we can carry out the largest climate experiment

ever, and work out what is really going to happen to our climate over the next 50 years.


2. About the experiment.
We're

organising the world's largest ever climate experiment, and we need your help.

We need thousands of people to help
Trying to predict climate change is hard.

There are lots of factors involved – air temperature, sea temperature and cloud cover all play a part – as do dozens of other variables. Therefore, there are a huge

number of calculations involved.

One solution is for scientists to use the largest supercomputer they can find. But even the biggest supercomputers are only so

good.

We think you can do better.

Using a technique known as distributed computing, we’re hoping to harness the power of thousands of PCs around the

world. If 10,000 people sign up, we’ll be faster than the world’s biggest computer. And we’re hoping to be even better than that.


3. The link to

find out more and download the software to participate.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/hottopics/climatechange/aboutexperiment1.shtml


.

[Dave]

Have set up as a participant. Easy to do and interesting to give it a go. There is forums on the site itself to solve probs with the system. The

main one seems to be the workings keep resetting themselves so it starts again! Will wait and see.

Dave