AI-powered 'digital twin' of Earth could make weather predictions at super speeds

Scientists have created a "digital twin" of our planet that can be used to predict weather far faster than traditional services.

The Technology could help prevent some of the catastrophic impacts of disasters such as typhoons and flooding. The intensive data-crunching system could also give us a more detailed view of the future effects of climate change and reveal clues about how to mitigate it.

The system is built by Nvidia, a multinational company that builds graphics processing units (GPUs), which are electronic circuits that can carry out high-speed mathematical equations that enable activities such as machine learning, a type of artificial intelligence (AI).

The platform, called Earth-2, contains a suite of machine learning technologies developed by Nvidia, all of it driven by supercomputers to provide the immense processing power needed to do the job.

Combined, these create "a virtual replica of a physical object or system, in this case, Earth's climate," Dion Harris, head of data center product marketing at Nvidia, told Live Science.

The system takes the form of an interactive interface that runs simulations of weather and climate across the planet, allowing users to set different parameters and simulate weather in different locations at a highly detailed 1.2-mile (2 kilometers) scale.

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