Tag: artificial intelligence (AI)
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The Uneven Distribution of AI’s Environmental Impacts
Summary: The training process for a single AI model, such as an LLM, can consume thousands of megawatt hours of electricity and emit hundreds of tons of carbon. AI model training can also lead to the evaporation of an astonishing amount of freshwater into the atmosphere for data center heat rejection, potentially exacerbating stress on…
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UA hydrologist launches website to track U.S. groundwater, forecasts
Photo: new AI-based groundwater forecasts for the U.S. A University of Arizona researcher has led a national science foundation project that integrated AI to simulate the nation’s groundwater supply to forecast droughts and floods. This website has been in development for three years and has now been launched. It is important to our climate here in…
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Spying on Beavers From Space Could Help Save California
Photo-illustration: Jacqui VanLiew; Getty Images A group of scientists taught an algorithm to spot beaver ponds in satellite imagery, which has the potential to help drought-ridden areas like California bounce back. For the first time in four centuries, it’s good to be a beaver. Long persecuted for their pelts and reviled as pests, the dam-building…
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Mapping Beaver Dams with Machine Learning
A new model deploys a neural network to spot beavers’ engineering exploits in aerial and satellite imagery, an approach that should aid studies of ecosystem and landscape change. Photo: Beaver dams like this one on Martis Creek near Lake Tahoe in California are important features in wetland areas. Mapping where beaver dams are and studying…
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AI to stop water pollution before it happens
Photo: A network of sensors provides real-time information on changes in water quality Artificial intelligence will be used in south-west England to predict pollution before it happens and help prevent it. It’s hoped the pilot project in Devon will help improve water quality at the seaside resort of Combe Martin, making it a better place…
