The supercomputer room at the National Center for Atmospheric Research laboratory in Boulder, Colorado (shown here) in 2002. This was one of only a few machines in the world capable of handling a full Global Climate Model. Such models, which take into account hundreds of different phenomena and their interactions, are among the largest jobs handled by any computer. Every 5-10 years a model is moved onto a more powerful computer.

Courtesy the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR).
© 2002 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. All Rights Reserved.