Paper short abstract:

Through multi-modal research into the model Hector, this contribution shares theoretical and practical findings about how climate models formulate socio-technical and cosmological imaginaries by investigating and experimenting with its infrastructure, code, interface and applications.

Paper long abstract:

This contribution presents the results of multi-modal research into the climate model Hector; an open-source climate model available on GitHub that operates at reduced complexities. Its primary use is to model climate scenarios more efficiently (speed and energy) but with comparable results to large climate models (e.g.:Earth System Model). This research looks into Hector as a case study to inquire into how the algorithmic reading of climate has an impact on climate action and subsequently on Earth's geophysical condition. This research also aims to probe and experiment with how socio-technical and cosmological imaginaries of climate futures are formulated through the model and its operations. The research is conducted through software and infrastructure studies, as well as practice-based design methods. It focuses on four dimensions of the modelling of climate within the Hector algorithmic framework; the capture of data; the modelling of climate through the combination of climate science and socio-economics variables; the visualisation of climate scenarios; and the recursive effect of computational imagery on climate actions. The materials used to conduct theoretical and practical research on Hector include interviews with its developers (the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory); a literature review on the model including the contractual agreement between the laboratory and its commissioner (the US Department of Energy); visual and written analysis of the repository of the model available on GitHub; the mobilising of the model through its interface (pyhector); and a study of the scenario planning game Half Earth Socialism, which is backed by Hector.