- NEWS AND VIEWS
A cutting-edge global model of the atmosphere combines machine learning with a numerical model based on the laws of physics. This ‘hybrid’ system accurately predicts the weather — and even shows promise for climate simulations.
- By
- Oliver Watt-MeyerORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8419-15260
- Oliver Watt-Meyer
-
Oliver Watt-Meyer is at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Seattle, Washington 98103, USA.
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
-
Numerical models of Earth’s climate system, based on the laws of physics, are essential tools for predicting changes in weather and climate in our warming world. However, persistent uncertainties in the representation of small-scale processes, such as cloud formation, have resulted in only slow improvements in the fidelity of these models. Interest in using machine learning to provide a data-driven representation of these uncertain processes has therefore skyrocketed. Yet challenges have persisted in coupling these representations to conventional atmospheric models. Writing in Nature, Kochkov et al.1 report a hybrid global atmospheric model that overcomes these challenges, combining physics-based approaches with machine learning. This model not only predicts the weather up to 15 days ahead with state-of-the-art accuracy, but also simulates historical temperature trends over a 40-year period, demonstrating its ability to assess climate.
Access options
Change institution
Buy or subscribe
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 /30days
cancel any time
Learn more
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Learn more
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Learn more
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02558-4
References
Kochkov, D. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07744-y (2024).
Rasp, S., Pritchard, M. S. & Gentine, P. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 115, 9684–9689 (2018).
Brenowitz, N. D. & Bretherton, C. S. Geophys. Res. Lett. 45, 6289–6298 (2018).
Bi, K. et al. Nature 619, 533–538 (2023).
Lam, R. et al. Science 382, 1416–1421 (2023).
Frostig, R., Johnson, M. J. & Leary, C. In Proc. Syst. Mach. Learn. abstr. 146 (2018).
Banerjee, A., Fyfe, J. C., Polvani, L. M., Waugh, D. & Chang, K.-L. Nature 579, 544–548 (2020).
IPCC. Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (eds Masson-Delmotte, V. et al.) (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2023).
Beucler, T. et al. Sci. Adv. 10, eadj7250 (2024).
Clark, S. K. et al. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst. 14, e2022MS003219 (2022).
Eyring, V. et al. Geosci. Model Dev. 9, 1937–1958 (2016).
Competing Interests
The author declares no competing interests.
Related Articles
-
Read the paper: Neural general circulation models for weather and climate
-
Google AI predicts long-term climate trends and weather — in minutes
-
Superfast Microsoft AI is first to predict air pollution for the whole world
-
Artificial intelligence can provide accurate forecasts of extreme floods at global scale
-
Subjects
- Atmospheric science
- Climate sciences
- Machine learning
Latest on:
Jobs
-
Postdoctoral Fellow in Epigenetics/RNA Biology in the Lab of Yvonne Fondufe-Mittendorf
Van Andel Institute’s (VAI) Professor Yvonne Fondufe-Mittendorf, Ph.D. is hiring a Postdoctoral Fellow to join the lab and carry out an independent...
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Van Andel Institute
-
Faculty Positions in Center of Bioelectronic Medicine, School of Life Sciences, Westlake University
SLS invites applications for multiple tenure-track/tenured faculty positions at all academic ranks.
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
School of Life Sciences, Westlake University
-
Faculty Positions, Aging and Neurodegeneration, Westlake Laboratory of Life Sciences and Biomedicine
Applicants with expertise in aging and neurodegeneration and related areas are particularly encouraged to apply.
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Westlake Laboratory of Life Sciences and Biomedicine (WLLSB)
-
Faculty Positions in Chemical Biology, Westlake University
We are seeking outstanding scientists to lead vigorous independent research programs focusing on all aspects of chemical biology including...
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
School of Life Sciences, Westlake University
-
Assistant Professor Position in Genomics
The Lewis-Sigler Institute at Princeton University invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position in Genomics.
Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, US
The Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics at Princeton University
Change institution
Buy or subscribe
Related Articles
-
Read the paper: Neural general circulation models for weather and climate
-
Google AI predicts long-term climate trends and weather — in minutes
-
Superfast Microsoft AI is first to predict air pollution for the whole world
-
Artificial intelligence can provide accurate forecasts of extreme floods at global scale
-
Subjects
- Atmospheric science
- Climate sciences
- Machine learning
Sign up to Nature Briefing
An essential round-up of science news, opinion and analysis, delivered to your inbox every weekday.