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Environmental organizations worldwide are increasingly using artificial intelligence to monitor wildfires, protect endangered species and analyze climate data, AnewZ reports. However, the technology’s rising energy and water demands are raising questions about its environmental impact.
All 15 major environmental and conservation organizations surveyed by Reuters said they use artificial intelligence in some form, despite concerns about data centers’ electricity and water consumption and emissions.
Artificial intelligence and nature conservation
In Cambodia, Conservation International uses AI to analyze satellite data and alert local forest patrols to potential wildfires in remote areas.
In Kenya, Save the Elephants uses machine learning to estimate wildlife populations more accurately. The organization says results from aerial surveys that previously took nine people nine months to complete can now be analyzed by AI in a matter of hours.
The technology has also exposed significant gaps in traditional counting methods: observers failed to record about one-third of elephants, half of zebras and giraffes, and three-quarters of oryx populations.
The Jane Goodall Institute is using AI to digitize decades of handwritten research on chimpanzees in Tanzania’s Gombe National Park. A project once expected to take up to 15 years is now forecast to be completed in about two.
Environmental impact of data centers
The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure is creating new challenges for climate action. According to the International Energy Agency, data centers worldwide could consume about 945 terawatt-hours of electricity annually in 2030, roughly equivalent to Japan’s annual electricity consumption.
Carbon dioxide emissions associated with data centers could exceed 300 million tonnes, while water consumption is projected to rise from 560 billion liters in 2023 to 1.2 trillion liters a year by 2030.
Technology companies including Microsoft, Google and Amazon have said their emissions are increasing, partly because of data center expansion.
Some organizations are taking steps to reduce AI’s environmental impact. The World Resources Institute limits the use of energy-intensive applications, including AI-generated images and videos, and reuses previously processed results to avoid repeating the same calculations.
The Nature Conservancy uses AI-powered cameras on fishing vessels. Rather than sending large volumes of video to centralized data centers, the cameras analyze catches on site.
Greenpeace International, meanwhile, is skeptical about the need to expand AI infrastructure and questions whether the technology’s environmental costs justify its widespread use.
The issue is expected to feature in discussions at the COP31 climate summit in Türkiye this month. Organizers plan to encourage government and business representatives to follow principles for the sustainable development of AI.
For conservation organizations, the central question is whether AI’s potential to accelerate environmental protection outweighs the resources required to operate the technology.
