British Climate Computer a Leading Cause of Global Warming

Climate change supercomputer makes Met building one of Britain's most polluted

By the time it reaches peak performance in 2011 the £30 million machine's massive processing power - it can perform 125 trillion calculations per second - will require 1.2 megawatts of power to run, enough energy to power a small town.

As a result it will contribute 12,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide to the problem of global warming every year.

That places the Met Office HQ close to the top of the list of carbon emitters - 103rd out of 28,259 UK public buildings assessed for their carbon footprint by the Department of Communities and Local Government.

Oops, sometimes the cure is causing the disease I suppose. Lots of hand-wringing over a very useful computer.

Barry Gromett, a Met Office spokesman, came to the defence of the machine, claiming that its severe weather warnings could help to save lives and its predictions for the airline industry helped to save 20 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year. He also defended the Met Office building.

“Our supercomputer is vital for predictions of weather and climate change," said Mr Gromett.

Isn't that defense merely "the ends justifying the means", or the watch while this one government project emits 12,000 tonnes (13,227 tons) of co2 per year while we wagle a finger at an ordinary US households that produce only 19 tons per year. In other words, this one computer center produces more CO2 per year than 696 American households every year.

Bad enough that worries of carbon emissions are even being raised concerning this very useful installation, but it is even worse that carbon emissions and their unproven link to the unproven theory of global warming is serving to harm our economy as well.