Scientists anticipate that 2024 will emerge as the hottest year on record, surpassing the previous heat levels recorded in 2023. This year will also mark the first complete year exceeding the Paris Agreement’s temperature threshold of 1.5°C.
According to Carbon Brief’s State of the Climate report, 2024 has experienced record-high temperatures for seven out of the first nine months, and global temperatures have aligned with climate models’ predictions.
Across the world, hot days are getting more intense and frequent while the number of cold days is decreasing. Extreme heat can worsen drought, leading to hot and dry conditions favorable for wildfires to spread.
High temperatures can exacerbate cities’ urban heat island (UHI) effect. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, buildings, roads, and infrastructure absorb heat, making temperatures 1 to 7 degrees F hotter in urban areas than outlying areas.
Extreme heat is also a leading cause of death. It impacts older people, infants, children, people with chronic health conditions, and outdoor workers. Hot days are also associated with increased heat-related illnesses, including cardiovascular and respiratory complications and kidney disease.
Heat impacts on infrastructure
Extreme heat pushes cities into temperatures that their infrastructure is not designed for. Extreme heat will not only put pressure on a building’s cooling system but also affect the materials it is made from.
Rising temperatures break down polymers, affecting plastic. When combined with increased rainfall, extreme temperatures can speed up metal corrosion and brick and stone weathering, weakening the steel structure within a building’s concrete exterior.
Damaged roads, delayed trains, and grounded airplanes could cause major disruptions in travel and supply chains, which would have significant social and economic impacts.
Google’s Heat Resilience Tool
Google Researcher uses AI to build the Heat Resilience tool to help cities lower temperatures and protect communities from extreme heat.
The tool applies AI to satellite and aerial imagery, assisting cities in quantifying how to reduce surface temperatures with cooling interventions, like planting trees and installing highly reflective surfaces like cool roofs. According to Google, this tool will help urban planners and local governments see the effects of cooling down to the neighborhood level.
The Heat Resilience tool is being piloted in 14 U.S. cities, where it is used to identify the neighborhoods that are most vulnerable to extreme heat and develop a plan to address the problem.
The tool is already driving action in cities. For instance, in Miami-Dade County, developers plan to develop policies that incentivize heat mitigation measures. In Stockton, California, the tool was used to identify potential projects to reduce the UHI effect.
Innovating tools like the ones developed by Google and many others help people and communities worldwide adapt to extreme heat. As the effects and impacts of climate change increase, so do technology and tools evolve to meet this challenge and provide timely information and solutions to help cities and communities adapt to climate change effects and build infrastructure that mitigates the impact of a changing climate for everyone.
Google’s heat resilience tool is also a practical example of an AI tool that can assist in better planning and associated infrastructure management analysis.
Source:
Hausfather, Z. (2024, November 7). State of the climate: 2024 will be first year above 1.5C of global warming. Carbon Brief. Retrieved from https://www.carbonbrief.org/state-of-the-climate-2024-will-be-first-year-above-1-5c-of-global-warming/
Heat Waves and Climate Change. (n.d.) Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. Retrieved from https://www.c2es.org/content/heat-waves-and-climate-change/
How heatwaves impact infrastructures and ecosystems. (2024, June 17). EarthScan. Retrieved from https://www.earth-scan.com/blog/heatwaves-impact
Fork, D. & Kansal, M. (2024 September 4). How we’re using AI to help cities tackle extreme heat. Retrieved from https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/sustainability/google-ai-research-extreme-heat-resilience/
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