This is what your house looks like on climate change: AI-fuelled site predicts the future
What would your neighbourhood look like underwater if a flash flood hit, like the one in Brooklyn in 2013?
What if a fire ripped through your community like one did in Lytton, B.C. this summer?
A site using artificial intelligence has found a way to visualize the effects of climate change in any location from Google Maps streetview.
Sasha Luccioni was working as an applied research scientist two-and-a-half years ago and wanted to put her money where her mouth to fight climate change.
"I quit my job and I convinced Yoshua Bengio, my supervisor, to take me on as a postdoc at Mila, which is the Quebec Research Institute for AI," she said. "The project that he had come up with at the time was using artificial intelligence to visualize the consequences of climate change, the potential impacts of climate change and so I joined on that project and we're working on it to us."
The result is "This Climate Does Not Exist," a website where visitors can input their address, which is transformed by flood, wildfire or smog using a simulator.
The name of the site reflects the team's desire to "emphasize that climate change is having dire consequences all around the world right now, even if you aren’t experiencing it in your own backyard."
Responses to the simulator have ranged from skepticism to excitement at its usefulness, said Luccioni.
"I am here to say, our house is on fire," said Greta Thunberg in 2019. The team at Mila wanted to produce an example of what that might literally look like.
"We're not saying your house is on fire, but the planet is on fire and the thing is, that when these extreme events happen, they're always far away and so, people always ask. Like, it's not a problem but eventually it is going to be," said Luccioni. "When it is going to be (a problem), it's going to be too late, so there's this gap between when we can take action and when we're going to be impacted."
The team is now working with a researcher in psychology that will help assess the psychological impacts of major impacts such as floods and fires. In addition, Mila is investigating what type of actions individuals and organizations are liable to take once a flood happens and what support can be offered.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.