Will artificial intelligence save humans from climate change?

Arabia Weather - In the current century, humans face great challenges related to climate change, which raises questions about the future and safety of planet Earth. Therefore, scientists, engineers and experts from various disciplines are increasingly collaborating to use their knowledge and skills to develop effective solutions to protect the environment and preserve the planet.

Many current research studies show that failure to take immediate action to address the effects of climate change may lead to worsening conditions in the future. These impacts are expected to cause shortages in food and water supplies in the coming decades, in addition to negatively impacting human health.

For this reason, all parties are coming together to work to innovate and implement essential steps to adapt and reduce the potential risks of climate change. This depends on employing data science and emerging and innovative technology, as artificial intelligence represents a promising solution that can contribute significantly to meeting this challenge.

Prediction of climate phenomena

Abdullah Sukkar, a researcher in satellite data analysis and geographic information systems, points out that employing artificial intelligence in the field of climate change makes it easier to understand and analyze past climate phenomena faster than traditional methods. It also helps in predicting expected climate phenomena in the coming years. However, it must be emphasized that it is not a magic tool, but rather a helpful and influential factor in confronting many climate challenges.

Abdullah Sukkar shares satellite images of the marshes area in Iraq in 2020 and 2022, showing the large and accelerating climate changes affecting Iraq. He also shares other photos of the Tigris River in Samarra, Iraq during the same two years, showing the drought in the river and the decline in green space in the region. He emphasizes that using artificial intelligence to analyze these images can interpret and analyze them better and faster, and can also predict the shape of the river and marshes in the future. Therefore, we can act and work to mitigate its severity and search for solutions early before it is too late.

Areas of employing artificial intelligence in climate change

Experts agree that there are many areas for the use of artificial intelligence in climate change, such as hurricanes and global warming. Saleh Al-Sharay'a, a professor of modeling and simulation of cosmic phenomena at King Abdullah University for Information Technology in Jordan, points out in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that through the use of nutritional information and artificial intelligence algorithms, the causes can be identified and thus avoided, and they can also be predicted to avoid them. All those disasters. It is noteworthy that there are current technologies for using artificial intelligence, such as “DeepMind” by Google, which helps prevent or avoid carbon emission and isolate it from the atmosphere.

Al-Sharaya adds that the products using artificial intelligence contribute to the development of smart, environmentally friendly solutions, which helps avoid traditional methods of energy production that contribute significantly to climate change and environmental pollution. Therefore, decision makers can rely on this information to take the necessary steps to develop and implement policies to reduce the negative impacts of climate change on all aspects of life.

Al-Sharia lists areas that artificial intelligence can help study and predict, such as: carbon sequestration, hurricanes, floods, drought, wind movement, environmental pollution, and the decline of green space on the Earth’s surface. It also helps avoid the effect of electromagnetic hurricanes on the Earth's atmosphere.

AI can be used to improve energy consumption and reduce emissions in several sectors. For example, it can contribute to the transportation industry by developing more efficient traffic management systems, reducing congestion and fuel consumption.

Using artificial intelligence, the occurrence of floods can be predicted in advance, as a research team at Google has developed a global hydrological model that allows floods to be predicted seven days before they occur. This information is published via the FloodHub platform, and is also added to SOS Alerts in Google Search and Google Maps. This technology is available in more than 80 countries around the world, serving more than 470 million people, contributing to a better response to natural disasters.

Artificial intelligence and renewable energy

The role of artificial intelligence in the field of renewable energy is highlighted as a partner and savior for humans, as described by the professor of artificial intelligence at the University of Jordan, Ibrahim Al-Jarrah. Artificial intelligence contributes to human understanding of climate change and helps them confront challenges that they may not be aware of.

Al-Jarrah stressed that the use of artificial intelligence in the field of renewable energy contributes to obtaining future indicators and predictions that help in the production of wind energy, as this depends on accurately analyzing weather data and information. In addition, artificial intelligence helps in producing solar energy and predicting the volume of production with great accuracy.

Artificial intelligence also contributes to increasing the efficiency of renewable energy work, as its algorithms can improve the operation and maintenance of renewable energy infrastructure. Thanks to these improvements, the infrastructure lifetime can be increased and overall costs reduced. For example, the appropriate time to maintain the rotors used in wind energy production, or solar farms, can be predicted through the use of drones that can fly over those rotors.

Employing these algorithms results in a reduction in carbon emissions, ensuring that clean energy is used to its full potential. In addition, it is used to improve the efficiency of environmental use of resources, by operating and developing smart systems and infrastructure that reduce energy waste.

Source: aljazeera