frecklesfairy (@frecklesfairy.bsky.social)

Hurricanes are getting nastier. What AI can - and can't do - to protect us Large and unpredictable Atlantic hurricanes are becoming more common due to climate change, with scientists increasingly relying on AI to improve forecasts, although many remain skeptical of the technology’s ability to better protect communities. It takes humans a couple of hours to put together a traditional hurricane forecast - but AI can recognize patterns in a matter of minutes using decades of historical weather data. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the country’s premiere hurricane forecasters, has been testing AI models for several years now, with increasingly accurate results. NOAA scientist Hiro Murakami, who works at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in New Jersey, told The Independent this week that incorporating AI into their “SPEAR“ model - which produces seasonal hurricane forecasts - has been a great success. “It’s like a 20 percent improvement we see, I think … It’s a very significant improvement,” Murakami said. Fewer hurricanes than normal are expected this season in the Atlantic Ocean —between 3-6 storms compared to an average of seven, due to a “godzilla” El Niño event. But it only takes one major hurricane to devastate a community. Hurricanes are getting stronger as Earth’s atmosphere heats up from the burning of fossil fuels,... https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/hurricanes-ai-noaa-model-climate-change-b2994164.html