Academic Paper
Author: Guy Sinclair (University of Westminster)
Climate science projects a view of the Earth’s future from a rarefied set of institutions, predominantly located within the Global North. This article examines the role of computational infrastructures in the production of contemporary climate knowledge through a study of the UK Met Office and its high-performance computing facilities in Exeter. Climate knowledge is not simply derived from the observation of atmospheric phenomena but is materially and institutionally produced through interconnected networks of data, modelling, computation, and environmental control. Tracing the historical development of numerical weather prediction from Lewis Fry Richardson’s speculative forecast factory to contemporary supercomputing systems, the article situates climate science within a broader knowledge infrastructure that concentrates computational capacity, scientific expertise, and political authority in a small number of institutions.
Exploring the architectural and thermodynamic conditions required for climate modelling, analysis demonstrates how climate supercomputers depend upon systems of mechanical cooling and environmental regulation, revealing a paradox at the heart of climate science: the prediction of planetary climate relies upon the prior production of controlled indoor climates. It concludes by questioning the predictive and managerial logic that underpins dominant climate modelling practices and argues for greater critical attention to the situated, political, and infrastructural conditions through which climates become knowable.
Keywords: Climate, Supercomputing, Apparatus, Site
How to Cite: Sinclair, G. (2026) “Machine Imaginaries and Computing Climates: Knowledge Infrastructure at the UK Met Office”, field. 11(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.62471/field.173
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