Nvidia has launched the Earth-2 Cloud Platform, a pioneering tool designed to predict climate change through advanced AI simulations. Unveiled at the GTC 2024 event in San Jose, California, Earth-2 is a digital twin cloud platform that uses innovative APIs to simulate and visualize weather and climatic conditions, enhancing accuracy in forecasting and emergency responses.
“Climate disasters are now commonplace, with droughts, hurricanes, and floods making headlines regularly,” stated Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. “Earth-2’s cloud APIs aim to prepare us for these events and encourage proactive measures against extreme weather.”
Earth-2 operates on various supercomputers, harnessing the computational power donated by partners to deliver highly detailed climate forecasts. The platform seeks to provide long-term climate predictions over decades.
As part of Nvidia's CUDA-X microservices, Earth-2 incorporates advanced AI models, including the CorrDiff generative AI model, achieving high-resolution simulations up to 1,000 times faster and 3,000 times more energy-efficient than existing numerical models.
Nvidia addresses the severe economic impact of climate-related disasters, which currently incurs annual losses of $140 billion. Rev Lebaredian, Nvidia's vice president of simulation, emphasized the need for kilometer-scale simulations to make a significant difference. “Longer-scale simulations can be costly, but this cloud platform will serve government agencies and forecasters to enhance weather predictions,” he said.
The Earth-2 APIs allow users to create interactive simulations that range from global atmospheric conditions to localized weather events, offering real-time forecasts in seconds. Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration is among the first to implement Earth-2’s diffusion models to improve typhoon predictions, aiming to enhance evacuation efforts and reduce casualties.
The integration of Earth-2 with Nvidia Omniverse enables companies like The Weather Company to build detailed 3D workflows that utilize real weather data for better analysis and simulation. By incorporating Earth-2 APIs, these organizations will develop more precise simulations and innovative weather modeling products, thereby boosting their services for enterprise clients.
Early adopters such as Spire, Meteomatics, and various climate tech startups are leveraging Earth-2's capabilities. Powered by Nvidia DGX Cloud, the platform offers comprehensive acceleration for climate and weather solutions, optimizing AI pipelines and GPU performance for weather prediction models.
Through Earth-2, Nvidia empowers global organizations to better understand, analyze, and mitigate the impacts of climate change, marking a significant advancement in environmental science. By visualizing and simulating weather at a two-kilometer scale, Earth-2 significantly enhances the speed and accuracy of weather and disaster preparedness.
With over 136 typhoons impacting Taiwan since 2000, leveraging Earth-2's technology is critical for improving disaster response and risk analysis. The Weather Company plans to combine its meteorological data with Omniverse, enabling insights into real-time weather impacts on digital twin environments.
As the challenges posed by climate change grow increasingly complex, integrating reliable, globally scaled weather data into digital twin environments has never been more essential. Sheri Bachstein, CEO of The Weather Company, stated, “Incorporating accurate real weather data is vital for analyzing and planning effective responses to climate-related challenges.”
With capabilities supported by Nvidia DGX GH200, HGX H100, and OVX supercomputers, Earth-2 sets a new standard for simulating and visualizing global climate systems at remarkable speeds and scales.
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