Scientists have long been interested in employing artificial intelligence in scientific research and developing useful technologies. As for climate scientists, they have sought to develop climate models using artificial intelligence to monitor and predict the potential developments regarding the climate changes that the planet is currently experiencing.
This is precisely what a research group of climate scientists accomplished, and their findings indicate that global warming is accelerating at an unprecedented rate. They published their results in the journal "Environmental Research Letters" on December 10, 2024.
An advanced approach
Researchers have developed a new approach based on artificial intelligence, integrating knowledge from various climate models and observations to make predictions about expected temperatures under global warming. This is based on previous data and climate models, helping to provide insights into what the world may face in the coming decades if greenhouse gas emissions continue.
Predictions
The pre-industrial era is considered the reference for the rise in average temperatures today because during that period, human activities did not significantly impact the climate as they do now. Indeed, the parties agreed to the "Paris Agreement," issued by the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21), held in the French capital, Paris, in 2015, with the goal of not exceeding the global average temperature of 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial era.
The report "Global Warming of 1.5°C" by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2018, which studies the impacts of global warming when exceeding the 1.5°C threshold compared to the pre-industrial era, indicated the potential catastrophic outcomes.
The United Nations Environment Programme released the "Emissions Gap Report" in the fourth quarter of 2024, predicting a temperature rise of between 2.6 to 3.1 degrees Celsius over the current century compared to the pre-industrial era. The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, described the results of this report as alarming.
The study came to align with the results of the emissions gap report and confirms that we are facing an unprecedented rise in temperatures, especially with 34 regions expected to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2040. Furthermore, 31 of these regions are predicted to experience temperatures exceeding 2 degrees Celsius by 2040. By 2060, researchers expect the temperature in 26 out of the 34 regions to rise by 3 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial era, which poses numerous risks.
The authors of the study believe that it is necessary to focus global efforts and take the necessary measures to solve the climate crisis. They praised the necessity of integrating artificial intelligence capabilities and technologies into climate modeling.
