Using AI To Battle Extreme Heat
IBM News, Monday, August 5th, 2024
Cities started setting record-high temperatures in May, and July 22, 2024, was the hottest day ever in the history of the planet, breaking the latest record set the day before.
'As temperatures keep increasing, it's critical we alert those most vulnerable to extreme heat waves,' says Etienne Vos, a research manager at IBM. Vos is part of a consortium developing an early warning system for extreme heat events, one of many groups across the world creating new AI-powered tools to battle extreme heat.
Heat islands and early health alert systems
Urban planners have been aware of heat islands-urban areas that experience higher temperatures than outlying areas-for decades. However, characterizing and forecasting heat islands accurately, at scale, and at high resolution remains an unsolved problem, or a very expensive one at best.