Google’s AI-powered Flood Hub coverage, heat alerts expanded to 80 countries

13 / 10 / 2023

By Marwa Nassar - -

Google announced expanding Flood Hub coverage to 80 countries, providing forecasts up to seven days in advance for 460 million people across Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and South and Central America.

At Sustainable With Google, the company has also announced the expansion of riverine flood forecasts on Flood Hub to the U.S. and Canada, covering more than 800 locations by rivers where more than 12 million people live. With the help of AI, it hopes to bring flood forecasting to every country and cover more types of floods, and it’ll continue to collaborate on this with our partners in the community, governments, academia, and organizations like the World Meteorological Organization.

As wildfires become more frequent, Google is working to provide information about where fires are — and it is also exploring how AI can predict where a fire will spread. In 2023, its SOS alerts have provided timely safety information to over 30 million people across 120 wildfire events around the world. To help map fire boundaries, its wildfire boundary tracker uses AI and satellite imagery to map large fires in close to real-time and updates every 15 minutes. This is available on Google Search and Maps in fire-prone parts of the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Australia, and it is working to expand coverage.

In addition to knowing where wildfires currently exist, firefighters need to anticipate where they will go and how to mitigate them well before they start.

Also, extreme heat also impacts public health, and heat-related deaths are on the rise. Therefore, Google launched extreme heat alerts this year so when people search for information on extreme heat, they see details about when a heat wave is predicted to start and end, tips on staying cool and related health concerns to be aware of from the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN). Since launching, it has provided information about extreme heat on Search in more than 80 countries.

Cities are also looking for ways to prevent “heat islands,” which are urban areas that experience higher temperatures due to structures like roads and buildings that absorb heat and re-emit it. Google’s Tree Canopy tool, part of its Environmental Insights Explorer platform, combines AI and aerial imagery to show where shaded areas are in the city, helping cities better understand where to plant more trees to reduce heat.

Google is also expanding Tree Canopy data to more than 2,000 cities globally. Its goal is to help even more partners and cities access this information and make use of these insights.

Google is helping to reduce heat islands is by providing insights about reflective roofs — called “cool roofs”. Its Cool Roofs tool uses AI and aerial imagery to map out the solar reflectivity of cities so urban planners and governments can identify which areas would benefit most from deploying a cool roof solution, such as a white roof. The pilot is live in four cities and will expand to 11 more cities in the coming weeks, including New York, Nashville and Melbourne.

AI is already playing an important role in addressing the climate crisis. As Google advances its AI research, it’ll do so boldly and responsibly to help further address the effects of climate change and help more people around the world.