Global Warming Computer Is Major Polluter

A supercomputer used to predict weather patterns and measure the effects of global warming is itself one of the contributors to pollution and global warming in the Great Britain, the Daily Mail reported Thursday.

The $16 million computer is capable of performing 1 trillion calculations per second. But the computer draws 1.2 megawatts of electricity - enough to power 1,000 homes.

According to the Mail, "It processes information from satellite images and was hailed as capable of predicting disastrous weather events that were previously unforeseeable such as the infamous hurricane of 1987."

The UK's Met Office - the equivalent of the National Weather Service in the U.S. - is housed in one of England's least green buildings. Met Office officials say the computer is to blame for its massive energy draw.

Environmentalists say it's ironic that computer meant to aid in the fight against climate change is doing so much to contribute to it. But a Met Office official said the computer plays a vital -and irreplaceable - role for scientists.