How AI could help fight devastating wildfires
The average annual global cost of wildfires is around USD 50 billion, the World Economic Forum said on Monday as it pitched for use of artificial intelligence in fighting them and containing carbon emissions caused by such tragedies. In a report released on the first day of its five-day annual meeting, WEF said that global wildfires in 2021 released an estimated 6,450 mega tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. This wildfire risk mapping and logistic planning project improved wildfire prediction by combining static and meteorological datasets and reduced both response time and risk to firefighters, WEF said. Sensors with in-built AI can collect acoustic information or operate as smoke detectors in forests and alert authorities within the first hour of a wildfire starting, WEF said. Google also uses geostationary satellites to produce near real-time maps while NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management uses low-orbit satellites and software developed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Space Science and Engineering Center to provide live fire data with a lag of just 60 seconds between earth observation and wildfire detection.
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