NSIDC

Studying the earth’s snow and ice can create a lot of heat. Cooling the National Snow and Ice Data Center’s computer room, where researchers from around the world access data about the earth’s snow and ice, used to require over 300,000 kilowatt-hours of energy per year or enough to power 34 homes. “There was a certain irony that here we are working on climate research and our data center was consuming an awful lot of power,” said David Gallaher, Technical Services Manager for NSIDC.