Addressing climate change is a comprehensive undertaking, one that focuses on developing sustainable power, addressing the Scope 3 emissions that are produced by all the companies behind all the products and services we use, and continuing to monitor and analyze the effects of all that we do on the environment.

A recent report from Booz Allen Hamilton examined how AI can be effective in climate-change activities, falling into three broad areas.

Remote sensing. “The European Union, U.S. and other countries are deploying a wide array of highly advanced satellites,” according to the report's analysis. “This provides unprecedented levels of insight into the causes and impacts of climate change, enabling near real-time monitoring of the planet.”

Regulatory enforcement. “Many agencies tasked with enforcing climate-related regulations often find themselves overstretched and under-resourced,” the report says. “(For example, government) agencies can employ AI to help spot early-warning signs of potential environmental hazards caused by companies or utilities.

Citizen science. In this area, “more and more we see scientific projects engaging volunteers to conduct scientific research and monitoring activities,” according to the report. “These climate-related projects range from tracking earlier bloom times for plants in the spring, altered arrival times and locations of migratory birds and the shifting habitats of frogs and pollinators.”

The report also cautions against indiscriminate use of data, the unintended consequences of relying solely on certain data, and the importance of human analysis in drawing conclusions and taking actions.

The full report and analysis can be found at ESG Impact Zone.