Leverage Points Blog

Saving the World, One Simulation at a Time

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By Janice Molloy

Can a computer model help save the planet? The folks at Climate Interactive, an initiative out of Sustainability Institute, are counting on it.

System dynamicists have been spreading the word about sustainability since the publication of Limits to Growth in 1972. So it comes as no surprise that a group of MIT-trained modelers has teamed with experts from other fields to create an ever-growing set of user-friendly, scientifically grounded climate change simulators.

The goal of Climate Interactive is to provide fast, accurate answers to "what if" questions so that decision makers and others can see the results of different scenarios on carbon emissions, atmospheric carbon levels, and temperature. This information can then inform policy discussions at all levels--from U.N. negotiations to high-school classrooms. CI is also sharing their analytical tools using open source approaches so that others can adapt, incorporate, and build on them.

The online version of CI's primary simulator, Climate Rapid Overview and Decision-support Simulator (C-ROADS), was released today. Two other free simulators are already available: The Climate Bathtub Animation and MIT's Greenhouse Gas Simulator. CI also has a blog, written by long-time Pegasus contributors Drew Jones and Beth Sawin.  

Try the "sims" and send the CI folks your feedback!