Google's latest innovation is a heat-resistant tool propelled by artificial intelligence
In a significant stride towards climate resilience, Google has launched a new heat resilience tool. This innovative tool applies artificial intelligence to satellite and aerial imagery, providing cities with detailed data about average summer surface temperatures, census tracts, and the presence or absence of trees and cool roofs in any given neighbourhood.
The heat resilience tool offers an unprecedented level of detail, a feat not possible with previous methods that only provided understanding at a lower resolution and at an area level. One of its key features is the ability to understand the roof reflectance of individual roofs, thanks to AI improvements.
Cities can leverage this data to target their cooling interventions towards the places that need them the most. For instance, Miami-Dade County plans to use the data from the heat resilience tool to develop policies to encourage developers to take heat mitigation measures. Cool roofs, which can reduce peak energy demand for cooling by up to 27%, are one such cooling intervention that cities may consider.
The idea for Google's suite of adaptation tools originated over a decade ago, when a Google employee noticed the lack of easily accessible information about wildfires from his office in Miami. This observation led to the development of a range of climate resilience tools, including the heat resilience tool, which Google is currently piloting in 14 cities, including Miami-Dade County.
The launch of the heat resilience tool is part of a renaissance of climate resilience tools in the climate tech space. Startups are providing a variety of such tools, including wildfire monitoring and climate risk assessments.
Registration for the Power Resilience Forum 2026, an event that brings together leaders from the power sector to discuss grid resilience in the face of extreme weather, is now available. Early bird pricing for the forum ends in October. The forum will take place in Houston, TX from January 21-23, 2026.
Google's development and launch of the heat resilience tool can be seen as an opportunity for innovation in the climate resiliency sector. Kansal, who referred to heat-related climate disasters as a 'silent killer', emphasised that the heat resilience tool is designed to help cities understand and address these disasters.
The heat resilience tool is the latest addition to Google's climate adaptation assets, which include flood monitoring and wildfire tracking. For example, the city of Hamburg-Wandsbek is preparing heat hotspot and heavy rain problem analyses as part of its climate adaptation concept, encouraging citizens to share observations and ideas to develop appropriate cooling measures and solutions.
In conclusion, the heat resilience tool offers a promising solution for cities to combat the subtle yet dangerous form of climate disaster that is heat. By providing detailed data and targeting cooling interventions, cities can work towards creating more resilient urban environments.
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