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New AI-powered tool could help predict heat waves, link them to climate change

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By illuminem briefings

· 2 min read


illuminem summarizes for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on The Hill or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: Researchers in the U.S. West have developed a new AI-powered tool to predict when and how heat waves occur in a changing climate
•  This low-cost method, published in Science Advances, aims to clarify the link between global warming and extreme weather events, potentially transforming how scientists forecast future heat waves

🔭 The context: The tool, created by scientists from Stanford and Colorado State University, uses machine learning to predict daily maximum temperatures based on regional weather conditions and global temperature data
•  The approach, trained on climate simulations from 1850 to 2100, was tested on real-world events, including the deadly 2023 Texas heat wave

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: This new method could inform climate adaptation strategies and serve as evidence in legal cases related to climate damages
•  As global temperatures rise, extreme heat waves like those in Europe, Russia, and India could become more frequent, with significant impacts on human health, infrastructure, and ecosystems

⏭️ What's next: While the tool shows promise, further analysis is needed before it can be used for critical applications like climate adaptation and litigation
•  The researchers believe that AI will continue to play a crucial role in understanding the complex connections between climate change and extreme weather

💬 One quote: “AI hasn’t solved all the scientific challenges, but this new method is a really exciting advance that I think will get adopted for a lot of different applications,” said senior author Noah Diffenbaugh, a professor of Earth system science at Stanford

📈 One stat: The AI tool predicted that global warming intensified the 2023 Texas heat wave by 2.12 to 2.56 degrees Fahrenheit, underscoring the significant impact of climate change on extreme weather

Click for more news covering the latest on climate change

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