BBC Launches Global Warming Experiment

Here is something for all of you to get involved in. The BBC this week launched their Climate Change Prediction Experiment. While the experiment itself is a tongue twister to say out loud, participating couldn't be easier. Just head over to the BBC website and download the installer. From there you can sit back and relax, while the programme uses your spare resources to calculate world climate change.

Your computer will be calculating variables such as temperature, cloud cover and snow fall. At the same time it includes a nifty screen saver that will show the progress of the experiment. The BBC predicts that a "fast machine under normal use" will complete their part of the project in 3-4 months, so people of neowin should be able to complete it in a few weeks.

The Climate Change Experiment was designed by a team at Oxford University, the idea is to reduce the need for supercomputers, which are expensive to run, and would need to be hired out for months to complete this experiment. By everyone joining in and sharing their resources it is possible to recreate the idea of a supercomputer by linking PCs around the world.

The programme is specially designed not to slow down your computer when you are using it, it is set as low priority and launches itself after other windows programmes have loaded. When you are away from your computer it will increase its needs, and then return to normal when you return, ensuring that you don't loose out performance wise.

Just 10,000 people are needed to sign up for the project to be completed faster than a supercomputer, so join in and help scientists understand global warming.

View: Climate Change Homepage