大数据能遏制气候变化吗？

    微软马丁利模型

    上图中红、黄、绿各色斑点，代表了非洲大草原上的动物生命。红点是食肉动物，黄点是杂食动物，绿点是食草动物。微软致力于建立一个地球上所有生命的模拟模型，上图只是这个宏伟蓝图的一个早期原型。微软希望这个“马丁利”模型能够预测气候变化将如何影响不同动物的命运。目前微软还在开发另一个专门针对海洋生物的模型，它着重研究的是许多鱼类赖以为生的海洋植物。该项目首席科学家德鲁•柏维斯表示：“气候变化有很多相互联系的组成部分。我们需要预测模型显示，森林和海洋在未来会发生什么变化。”

    Microsoft’s Madingley Model

    Red, yellow, and green dots grow and shrink on a graph representing animal life on the African Savannah. The red dots are carnivores, the yellow, omnivores, and the green, herbivores. The graph is an early prototype by Microsoft to create a simulation of all life on earth. The hope is to create tool - called the Madingley Model - that will predict how environmental changes will impact the mortality of different animals. So far, Microsoft has working models of the carbon cycle showing animal life on land and in the sea. It is working on another focused on the ocean, particularly plants that are a major food source for fish. “Climate change has many interrelated parts,” said Drew Purves, head scientist for the group handling the project for Microsoft. “We need predictive models of what will happen to the forest and oceans in the future.”