10/01/2005 — - Environment
Canada, along with IBM Canada representatives,
today marked the first anniversary of its
IBM supercomputer and highlighted the progress
made and anticipated in forecasting the
weather, air quality and climate. The event
took place at the offices of Environment
Canada in Dorval, Quebec.
This supercomputer, which forms the core
of Canada’s weather forecasting system,
will make it possible to produce better
forecasts and severe weather warnings and
help reduce loss of life and the costs associated
with severe weather incidents. It also opens
up new prospects for the environmental field.
Representatives of Environment Canada’s
Meteorological Service also took the opportunity
to note the crucial role played by supercomputers
in weather forecasting and in the environmental
sciences. Today, it is impossible to imagine
the production of high-quality weather forecasts
without processing tens of thousands of
observations received from satellites, radar,
aircraft, buoys and surface stations around
the world. What is more, their number is
constantly increasing.
This increase in supercomputing capacity
will not only help Environment Canada improve
the quality of its existing products but
will also allow for innovation in and the
development of new products that will help
to meet the needs of Canadians.
This supercomputer is also essential for
Environment Canada researchers. For example,
climatologists will be able to take advantage
of the huge calculating power of this computer
to create simulations of the Earth's climate
and enable them to better anticipate the
changes that will occur in the coming decades
and to better prepare for them.
Whether they are used to reduce loss of
life or the costs associated with severe
weather, ensuring the health or safety of
Canadians or better preserving our environment,
supercomputers are now more than ever an
inescapable fact of our daily lives.
For more information, visit Environment
Canada's Green Lane Web site at http://www.ec.gc.ca
or our weather website at: http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/canada_e.html.
