According to Deloitte, wildfires have become more commonplace as the planet warms with increasing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. They are both a consequence of and a contributor to global warming, each releasing millions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. Forests lost in days can take generations to recover.
Artificial intelligence (AI) as a solution
The FireAId initiative, spearheaded by the World Economic Forum (WEF), seeks to find more advanced tools, notably through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to give those fighting fires a better chance of acting at earlier stages, before the fire becomes “wild.”
Deloitte and Nvidia have joined forces to tackle this challenge, studying wildfire trends, involving firefighters, analyzing data, and selecting the right technologies to pilot better wildfire prediction tools. It is a difficult, but worthwhile task. Data, AI, and simulation technology can help cut through the complexity and give firefighters an upper hand in fighting the effects of climate change around the world. The project vision is to provide an intuitive tool that is both user-friendly and useful, allowing firefighters to gain valuable time, focusing resources where they will be most effective.
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