Former Vice President Al Gore\u2019s nonprofit coalition Climate TRACE has launched an artificial intelligence platform that tracks more than 660 million sources of air pollution worldwide. The system offers neighborhood-level detail on emissions linked to millions of premature deaths each year.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fine particulate pollution, often called soot, is a silent killer. According to scientists<\/a>, it is linked to nearly 9 to 10 million deaths every year, causing heart disease, lung cancer, and strokes. Studies show tens of thousands die annually in the United States alone, even at so-called \u201clegal\u201d pollution levels.<\/p>\n \u201cFor some time, I\u2019ve been trying to bring more attention to the global public health crisis that\u2019s related to what some refer to as conventional air pollution, or PM2.5. It has been difficult for people to get precise information about what pollution they\u2019re breathing, where it\u2019s coming from, what the quantities are,\u201d Gore explained in an interview with TechCrunch about the scale of the crisis.<\/p>\n The new system draws data from roughly 300 satellites and 30,000 monitoring stations, using AI to not only measure emissions but also link them to individual facilities. Users will be able to see plume maps<\/a> that illustrate how tiny soot particles travel through cities and neighborhoods.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gore emphasized the role of technology in this breakthrough, telling TechCrunch<\/a>: \u201cThe very idea of tracking 662 million sites around the world, I mean without AI, people couldn\u2019t have imagined doing something like that. But of course, as we\u2019ve all seen in the last couple of years, AI can do stuff that is quite extraordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n Scientific studies have long linked PM2.5 to lung disease, heart problems, and cancer. More recent research adds to the list<\/a>: kidney disease, dementia, Parkinson\u2019s, and complications at birth.\u00a0<\/p>\n Communities living near refineries and industrial sites, often low-income and minority neighborhoods, face some of the worst impacts. Gore highlighted \u201cCancer Alley,\u201d a 65-mile stretch of Louisiana packed with petrochemical facilities, as a striking case study. Using Climate TRACE\u2019s data, Gore said: \u201cIf Cancer Alley were a nation, its per capita global warming pollution emissions would rank fourth in the world, behind Turkmenistan,\u201d according to AP News<\/a>.<\/p>\n According to Climate TRACE\u2019s modeling,<\/a> the largest populations at risk of soot exposure are concentrated in major cities including Karachi, Guangzhou, Seoul, New York City, and Dhaka.<\/p>\n The tool provides independent, open-access data that regulators, investors, and communities can use to hold polluters accountable. Climate TRACE hopes governments, activists, and businesses can use the system to push for change.<\/p>\n In related news, <\/strong>Google\u2019s latest environmental report<\/strong><\/a> details the company\u2019s progress, setbacks, and commitment to \u201cpowering AI with clean energy.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n The post Al Gore Launches AI Tool to Track 660 Million Global Air Polluters<\/a> appeared first on eWEEK<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Former Vice President Al Gore\u2019s nonprofit coalition Climate TRACE has launched an artificial intelligence platform that tracks more than 660 million sources of air pollution worldwide. The system offers neighborhood-level detail on emissions linked to millions of premature deaths each year.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fine particulate pollution, often called soot, is a silent killer. According to scientists, it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5043"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5043\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How the Climate TRACE tool works<\/h2>\n
Health impacts and environmental justice<\/h2>\n