Climate change remains one of humanity’s most urgent challenges, and this decade is pivotal for steering the world toward a sustainable future. In conversations about this ambition, leaders in sustainability, including Google’s Head of Sustainability for EMEA Adam Elman, encouraged the use of every available tool to mitigate and adapt to the evolving climate realities.
Among the most promising tools is artificial intelligence, capable of processing vast amounts of climate data and supporting early warning systems and forecasting models. This technology can help researchers, governments, and communities anticipate extreme events and respond more effectively.
In discussing these efforts, the Google executive emphasized that given the scale of the climate crisis, employing all available tools for both mitigation and adaptation is essential. The aim is to reduce emissions and to develop technologies that empower people to make sustainable choices in daily life.
Extreme weather events such as prolonged heat waves or major storms are becoming more frequent in more regions, affecting food security and livelihoods for millions around the world.
Reducing CO2 emissions remains a central objective while accelerating adaptation in line with findings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Elman highlighted these points in his discussions with media partners to explain the need for action.
Improvements to heatwave warnings
Extreme heat accounts for hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. People increasingly turn to the internet for guidance on staying safe during extreme conditions, with July 2022 marking record online interest in heatwaves.
To help people find accurate, timely, and practical information for preparation and adaptation, Google has launched an overtemperature warning system in Search that will be refined in the coming months. When users search for topics like heat waves, a banner signals an ongoing crisis and provides information panels with news, practical advice, and local guidance.
If an overtemperature alert is active and a user searches for weather information, a highlighted link to the overtemperature feature appears on the weather results page.
Smart trees to cool cities
The discussion noted that extreme temperatures are increasingly common in urban areas where concrete and infrastructure create heat islands.
Trees are being recognized as a practical solution to lower street temperatures and improve urban life. Yet many cities lack the resources to plant trees where they are most needed. New tree-planting initiatives aim to address this gap.
Tree Canopy, a component of Environmental Insights Explorer, uses artificial intelligence and aerial imagery to provide predictions about tree canopy cover. This data helps planners understand how a city looks and supports better decisions for urban afforestation and tree canopy expansion.
After pilot projects in several US cities, the Tree Canopy tool is being expanded to nearly 350 cities worldwide, including 90 in Europe, to support climate planning. In Spain, data already reflects information from cities such as Barcelona, Murcia, Vitoria, Zaragoza, and Calviá in Mallorca.
Most searched in Spain
Google search patterns show that environmental topics and sustainability matter to the Spanish public. Between March 2022 and March 2023, the top five climate-related questions in Spain included: what is climate change, what is the greenhouse effect, what is global warming, what can we do to prevent climate change, and what are the consequences of climate change.
In 2022, searches for terms like drought and heat waves reached record highs, while queries about forest fires were at their highest in the past decade. At the same time, related concepts such as global warming, greenwashing, carbon footprint, and climate change mitigation showed notable growth, reflecting broader public interest and concern as reported by technology trend analyses.