Weapons and climate simulations share innovative approaches ... - Santa Fe New Mexican
Weapons and climate simulations share innovative approaches | Health And Science | santafenewmexican.com
A computer-generated image shows simulations of ocean eddies in the Gulf of Mexico used in analyzing climate dynamics across the seasons. Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers are developing variable-resolution simulations that can zoom in on areas of interest without bogging down the entire simulation.
People are often surprised to learn Los Alamos National Laboratory has been studying climate for 40-plus years as part of our national-security mission. Over the decades, we have applied deep scientific understanding to developing supercomputing models for our weapons research. In turn, we have extended weapons science and the associated modeling expertise across seemingly unrelated fields, from nuclear physics to the threat of a global “nuclear winter,” to forecasting and potentially mitigating sea-level rise that could affect U.S. military bases.
At first glance, computer modeling for climate science and for ensuring the continued safety, reliability and effectiveness of the nation’s nuclear stockpile seem light years apart. But both are based on mathematically representing physical processes, and they overlap and inform each other in surprising ways. In each area, we need to deepen our scientific understanding to navigate unprecedented, but consequential, futures.
Irene Qualters is the associate laboratory director for simulation and computing at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”