Researchers used a climate model similar to those used in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to map out the weather patterns in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings."
The researchers found The Shire (where the hobbit Bilbo Baggins lived before being "whisked away") had a climate similar to Lincolnshire and Leicestershire in the U.K., a University of Bristol news release reported.
Mordor, a much more sinister land, had a climate comparable to Los Angeles or western Texas in the U.S.
The paper also described which way the prevailing winds were pointing in order to prompt the elves to set sail from Grey Haven (West), and a dry region in the Misty Mountains caused by their shadow.
The venture looked into the accuracy of climate models, and how they can be used to predict future weather events.
"Because climate models are based on fundamental scientific processes, they are able not only to simulate the climate of the modern Earth, but can also be easily adapted to simulate any planet, real or imagined, so long as the underlying continental positions and heights, and ocean depths are known," Professor Richard Pancost, Director of the Cabot Institute at the University of Bristol said.
The team demonstrated that models can effectively outline climates ranging from the past ice age to the super-hot "Eocene greenhouse," 50 million years ago; they can also be used to predict Earth's future climate.
"This work is a bit of fun, but it does have a serious side. A core part of our work here in Bristol involves using state-of-the-art climate models to simulate and understand the past climate of our Earth. By comparing our results to evidence of past climate change, for example from tree rings, ice cores, and ancient fossils of plants and animals, we can validate the climate models, and gain confidence in the accuracy of their predictions of future climate," Doctor Dan Lunt said in the news release.
