Introduction
Climate change is a menace affecting almost every part of the planet, and its impacts are devastating. Several factors lead to climate change, but human beings’ activities are the main contributors. With the current rate of climate change, the survival of future generations is at higher risk unless an effective approach is used to redress the issue of climate change today. Artificial Intelligence can be relied upon to address climate change by providing effective solutions through machine learning on a number of areas deployed to tackle climate change, including looking at how AI is currently applied, how it has been used before on climate change as well as the future application of AI in future to tackle climate change.
Discussion
The United Nations have defined climate change as a long-term shift in both weather and temperature, which adversely affect the normal weather people rely on to survive. The leading cause of climate change is the application of fossil fuels known for the emission of greenhouse gases (Stein, 2020). These gases interfere with the ozone layer, which protects the earth from direct sun rays, adversely living organisms.
As far as climate change is concerned, artificial intelligence deals with means of applying advanced technology that relies on vast data to control or stop the spread of climate change, improve the environment, and make the world a better place to live. Artificial intelligence is termed as a swift army knife as far as climate change solutions are concerned due to its potential of multitasking and carrying out vital activities like measuring and minimizing emissions while guiding business models on effective means of tackling climate change and hazards (Stein, 2020). Artificial intelligence can be applied widely to control carbon emission by suggesting effective management of the electric grid forecasting things like sunlight and wind based on weather data collected.
History of AI and Analytics in climate change
In the past, Artificial Intelligence has been applied when dealing with the issue of climate change. In the past, researchers have widely used artificial intelligence in spotting cyclones, atmospheric rivers, and how greenhouse gases have been interfering with things like rain precipitation (Zhongming et al., 2018). Furthermore, organizations have applied AI to determine the amount of carbon they emit daily to the environment. Apart from determining the amount, artificial intelligence has been applied to measure the source of carbon, and through carbon tracker, there has monitoring of coal plant emissions using the satellite imagery. In this case, the tracker relies on the data it elicited and thereafter convinces the finance industry concerning the effects of carbon plants that do not lead to profits.
Researchers have greatly used artificial intelligence in coming up with better climate predictions whereby climate informatics relies on data science as well as climate science and deals with several issues like studying hurricanes, climate downscaling, or even socioeconomic effects of weather and climate (Zhongming et al. 2018). Through A. I algorithms, better predictions on both short- and long-term effects of climate change have been made, including the magnitude of damage that is likely to be experienced when a hurricane occurs.
The current state of AI and Analytics in Climate Change
There is the vast application of artificial intelligence today on the issue of climate change with the ultimate aim of improving and minimizing the effects of climate change. Artificial intelligence is used at the movement to optimize clean energy development. Hydropower-dam developers have relied on the AI computational model to seek the best location for dams that generate the lowest greenhouse gas emissions. Apart from clean energy development, artificial intelligence has turned out to be a game-changer today as far as avoiding waste is concerned. Institutions, including organizations and governments, heavily invest and depend on artificial intelligence to manage their waste (Zhongming et al., 2018). The institutions are deploying AI solutions to avoid waste. A good example is minimizing energy waste from buildings and comprehending both supply and demand, an enormous means by which AI empowers climate change mechanisms through reducing waste in terms of materials, capital and time. The concept begins with intelligent garbage bins. A firm can easily monitor trash containers if they are full, hence enabling optimization of waste collection. Therefore, the Internet of Things sensors is relied upon.
Today’s application of artificial intelligence has also favored smart sorting of waste rather than relying on the waste management facility (Huntingford et al., 2018). The waste items are a conveyor belt and a scanner whose cameras rely on the deep learning algorithm in this particular case. Thereafter, robots are applied to pull pick-off items from the conveyer belt. AI does automated sorting, and through AI-powered machines, there is a high rate of sorting and through the application of machines, are able to complete sorting on time.
Future of AI and Analytics in climate change
In the future, the main goal is to eradicate climate change completely and guide human beings on some of the activities to avoid since they adversely lead to climate change.As far as the future application of Artificial Intelligence is concerned, organizations will heavily rely on artificial intelligence to promise the development of sensing devices that assist with both effect and resource decoupling (Victor, 2019). Effect decoupling deals with decreasing environmental damage, including carbon emission per economic output. Therefore, there is the possibility of halting any emission from the energy sector through the AI application to predict both supply & demand of energy in the grid and halt energy emission.
Secondly, in the future, effective means of doing away with things that destroy the environment and cause climate change means relying on artificial intelligence to improve the schedules for renewables and do away with the use of fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases. Further, artificial intelligence applications will also develop robotics that safeguards and monitors natural resources like forests and curb deforestation. Applications of drones by the security bodies across the world can help in curbing logging and preventing unnecessary deforestation.
Conclusion
Artificial intelligence has been used in the past to handle climate change, still used today to curtail the effects of climate change, and in the future, AI will help to eradicate climate change completely. Indeed, AI has played a critical role in improving how human beings carry out activities that interfere with weather and climate change. Through analysis of gigantic data, AI has the full potential of helping people to live in a better world when climate change is dealt with, and people are guided on how to interact with their surroundings and avoid engaging in activities that contribute to climate change.
References
Zhongming, Z., Linong, L., Xiaona, Y., Wangqiang, Z., & Wei, L. (2018). Artificial intelligence—a game changer for climate change and the environment.
Victor, D. G. (2019). How artificial intelligence will affect the future of energy and climate.
Huntingford, C., Jeffers, E. S., Bonsall, M. B., Christensen, H. M., Lees, T., & Yang, H. (2019). Machine learning and artificial intelligence to aid climate change research and preparedness. Environmental Research Letters, 14(12), 124007.
Stein, A. L. (2020). Artificial intelligence and climate change. Yale J. on Reg., 37, 890.
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