Scientists build ‘digital twin’ of Earth to predict our future
- Scientists have built an AI-based ‘digital twin’ model of Earth
- It’s designed to monitor, simulate, and predict Earth’s future climate in great detail
- Its name: DestinE
Published on Jun 12, 2024 at 8:49 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Jun 13, 2024 at 6:24 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
The EU has launched an AI-powered ‘digital twin’ of Earth to predict the future of the planet and its climate, in particular.
Announced by the European Commission today, the model is designed to improve the accuracy of climate predictions.
In order to do this, it will monitor and simulate Earth’s climate in great detail.
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How will it help predict the future of Earth?
This is only the first iteration of Destination Earth or DestinE.
It’s hoped that the model will grow and evolve over the next decade to ‘support the green transformation’.
Scientists predict that, within this timeframe, a complete digital twin of the Earth should be completed.
There are currently two models of DestinE.
One is for extreme weather events, while the second concerns climate change adaptation.
This should help scientists to know how food security will be impacted by a heatwave, whether storms will flood a city, or where to position a wind farm to make it most efficient.
The minds behind it are confident about the possibilities it will bring.
Supercomputers from NASA were used to create a video showing what it’s like to fall into a black hole.
Plus, in virtually the dark side of this project, another supercomputer simulation has predicted the year of human extinction on Earth.
How does it work?
It’s powered by Europe’s high-performance computers (EuroHPC).
That includes Finland’s LUMI supercomputer.
In addition, AI will help give data processing speeds a leg-up.
Speaking of supercomputers, OpenAI and Microsoft are reportedly planning to build a $100 billion AI supercomputer.
The data used will come from satellites, like the ones in the EU’s Copernicus program, IoT sensors on the ground, governmental data, and data gathered from oceans, cities, and forests.
“DestinE means that we can observe environmental challenges which can help us predict future scenarios – like we have never done before,” enthused EU’s antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager.
“This first phase shows how much we can achieve when Europe puts together its scientific excellence and its massive supercomputing power.”
What’s next?
The DestinE program was first launched in 2022 and, since then, over $325 million (€300 million) has been dedicated to it in total
Today signposts the first phase drawing to a close.
Entering the second phase, scientists will receive their second installment of $163 million (€150 million) to fund their work.
As for the third phase, the scientists behind the DestinE program are waiting for the agreement of the final Digital Europe program 2025-2027 to be hashed out.
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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
