How Google Al forecasting can prevent deadly floods in Pakistan

Pakistan has a history of deadly floods, especially with rising climate change crisis these disasters are almost uncontrollable.

Around 1,739 people were killed along with ₨ 3.2 trillion ($14.8 billion) of damage and ₨ 3.3 trillion ($15.2 billion) of economic losses from June to October 2022 as a result of deadly floods in Pakistan.

Due to global warming, the monsoon rains were heavier than expected and glaciers started melting rapidly that year.

And if that was not enough, severe heat wave took life of over 500 people in Karachi alone.

The contribution of my country in global warming is small, with its Green House Gas (GHG) emissions being less than 1% of the world's total, but surprisingly it paid the most price.

It is important to note that Pakistan's GHG emissions per person are less than half the global average.

I’ve volunteered in numerous flood drivers and fund raising events that year, often times I used to think is there any way we can avoid these atrocious? Or perhaps reduce the effect of flood?

Last week, I read an article about how Google is scaling up flood forecasting with Artificial Intelligence (AI) which can potentially saving millions of lives. It ignited a beacon of hope in me, maybe we can avoid floods with the help of these techs.

Even though flooding became decade old issue, but its scale and frequency are rapidly increasing as a result of climate change.

Google’s advanced flood forecasting :

Google has launched an advanced AI technology, which gives predictions of flood up to seven days prior with improved accuracy and reliability.

The tech giant is now planning to expand its flood forecasting capabilities to over 100 countries, potentially safeguarding the lives of 700 million people.

Pakistan should also utilise Google’s flood forecasting to mitigate flood hazards.

This breakthrough innovation marks a substantial advancement in predictive accuracy, while also reflecting a serious pledge to tackle a pressing worldwide problem.

While we on the global warming issues, let’s take a look at the major pointers of Pakistan's climate action plan.