A New View on CO 2
A climate initiative uses satellite imagery and AI algorithms to quantify carbon emissions from power plants .
BY CHRIS HAYHURST 35
Melting ice caps . Rising sea levels . Wildfires in increasing numbers .
ILLUSTRATIONS BY KEITH NEGLEY
These are some of the most common photographable effects of global warming . But how would the face of climate change shift if we could better visualize — and quantify — destructive carbon emissions ? That ’ s where the Global Emissions Monitoring System ( GEMS ), an initiative funded by Google . org and led by San Franciscobased nonprofit WattTime , enters the picture : The project will leverage satellite imagery and artificial intelligence ( AI ) algorithms to monitor the world ’ s biggest atmospheric polluters .
The idea , says WattTime executive director Gavin McCormick , is to hold coal- , gas- , and oil-fired power plants accountable for the impact their emissions have on human and environmental health . While the primary target of the project is carbon dioxide ( CO 2 )— the heat-trapping gas that contributes to global warming — the initiative also will track other pollutants , including mercury and sulfur dioxide .
“ It ’ s amazing how hard it is to actually find out where all the pollution is coming from ,” McCormick explains . A small number of countries provide comprehensive reporting around which power plants pollute how much , but , in most parts of the world , he notes , “ these plants are not tracked , and there ’ s no way to prove or even know who is causing the problem .”
WattTime is partnering with two other nonprofits on the project : the London-based Carbon Tracker Initiative and the World Resources Institute in Washington , D . C . Using a monitoring system developed by Carbon Tracker , the three organizations will deploy machine learning