GIS

Geospatial AI to address climate change

IBM has released its latest geospatial artificial intelligence (AI) initiative to address climate change. These efforts involve collaborations across various regions and uses advanced AI models designed for geospatial applications.

Central to these initiatives is IBM’s geospatial foundation model, developed jointly with NASA. These models aim to generate environmental insights and solutions related to climate change. These use a vast amount of climate-relevant data to accelerate the analysis of various environmental aspects that are affected by climate change.

IBM and the Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) have partnered to map urban heat islands in Abu Dhabi using a fine-tuned version of IBM’s geospatial foundation model. The goal of the project is to understand the impact of local landscapes on temperature anomalies. The initial results show a decrease in heat island effects, which can provide valuable insights for future urban design strategies.

IBM and NASA have partnered to develop an AI foundation model dedicated to weather and climate applications. The collaboration aims to enhance the accuracy and speed of weather forecasting, predict wildfire conditions and understand meteorological phenomena. https://newsroom.ibm.com

Climate change threatens Australia’s low-lying coral reef islands

University of Sydney researchers have found 25 percent of Australia’s coral islands, land masses formed by reefs, currently face high to very high risk of being wiped out by climate change.

The findings, published in the latest edition of the journal Science of the Total Environment, identified that all of the 56 investigated Australian coral islands are exposed to some degree of climate risk but that three small, unvegetated coral islands in Western Australia, on Scott, Clerke and Imperieuse reefs, are the most vulnerable.

The research introduces an innovative method to evaluate and categorise coral reef islands based on their risk from and resilience to climate change.

The risk system, built using openaccess ocean climate data and satellite imagery that could be applied globally, provides decision-makers with a tool to prioritise protection efforts for vulnerable coral islands in the era of rapid climate change. www.sydney.edu.au

Commission welcomes Political Agreement on AI Act

The European Commission welcomes the political agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council on the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), proposed by the Commission in April 2021.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said, Artificial intelligence is already changing our everyday lives. And this is just the beginning. Used wisely and widely, AI promises huge benefits to our economy and society. Therefore, I very much welcome today’s political agreement by the European parliament and the council on the Artificial Intelligence Act.

“The EU’s AI act is the first-ever comprehensive legal framework on artificial intelligence worldwide. So, this is a historic moment. The AI Act transposes European values to a new era. By focusing regulation on identifiable risks, today’s agreement will foster responsible innovation in Europe,” Ursula emphasized.

“By guaranteeing the safety and fundamental rights of people and businesses, it will support the development, deployment, and takeup of trustworthy AI in the EU. Our AI act will make a substantial contribution to the development of global rules and principles for human-centric AI,” she added. https://ec.europa.eu

NASA, partners launch US Greenhouse Gas Centre

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan, and other United States government leaders unveiled the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center recently held 28th annual United Nations Climate Conference (COP28).

The U.S. Greenhouse Gas Centre will serve as a hub for collaboration between agencies across the U.S. government as well as non-profit and private sector partners. Data, information, and computer models from observations from the International Space Station, various satellite and airborne missions, and ground stations are available online.

As the lead implementing agency of the center, NASA partnered with the EPA, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Science experts from each of these U.S. federal agencies curated this catalog of greenhouse gas datasets and analysis tools.

The centre’s data catalog includes a curated collection of data sets that provide insights into greenhouse gas sources, sinks, emissions, and fluxes. www.nasa.gov

Union Bank of India and Accenture to accelerate data-driven transformation

Union Bank of India is collaborating with Accenture to design and develop a scalable and secure enterprise data lake platform with advanced analytics and reporting capabilities.

Using predictive analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence, this platform will leverage structured and unstructured data from within the bank as well as from external sources to generate business-relevant insights. accenture.com