How can artificial intelligence (AI) be used to predict pollution and weather patterns? This is what a recent study published in Process Safety and Environmental Protection hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated the benefits of using AI for monitoring pollution patterns after chemical incidents caused by natural disasters. This study has the potential to help researchers and climate scientists forecast weather and pollution patterns with the goal of mitigating the consequences of them.
For the study, the researchers used a series of machine learning models to analyze climate data with the goal of predicting chemical incidents based on specific weather patterns. While natural disasters have long been known to trigger chemical incidents, known as natural hazard-triggered technological accidents (Natechs), this study aimed to develop new ways of predicting Natechs. In the end, the models identified that lightning and precipitation are the two most prominent precursors for Natechs.
“In this study, we pursued a data-driven understanding of how climate extremes elevate the likelihood of excessive industrial emissions,” said Dr. Qingsheng Wang, who is a professor of chemical engineering at Texas A&M University and a co-author on the study. “This understanding is laying the groundwork for predictive tools allowing regulators and operators to anticipate natural hazard-triggered technological accidents.”
This study comes as a 2024 study published in Heliyon conducted a data analysis on past Natechs, determining that approximately 70 percent involve hazardous materials with 83.3 percent occurring in the spring or summer months and approximately 56 percent involve fires. Therefore, recent studies like this can help researchers better understand the causes of Natechs and the steps that can be taken to mitigate them.
How will AI help researchers better understand weather and pollution patterns in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Process Safety and Environmental Protection, EurekAlert!, Heliyon