The non-profit organization Climate TRACE, founded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, has launched a global AI tool that tracks toxic air pollution from more than 660 million sources — including power plants, factories, refineries, and shipping ports emitting deadly PM2.5 particles into the atmosphere.
The platform precisely identifies so-called “super-polluters” — the dirtiest 10% of industrial sources whose toxic emissions directly threaten the health of millions of people. Advanced mapping visualizes how pollution spreads from individual facilities into populated areas, revealing which communities are most affected by industrial toxins.
Satellite data combined with atmospheric models from Carnegie Mellon University allow for the creation of detailed neighborhood-level pollution maps — covering both average and extreme days. Users can zoom into any location and view overlays of population density with pollution sources, clearly showing which factories and facilities have the greatest impact on nearby residents.
What makes this tool revolutionary is that, for the first time, communities can concretely prove who is polluting their air and demand accountability using real data. Climate TRACE turns air pollution from an invisible killer into a documented public health threat, giving environmental activists and governments a powerful weapon against the world’s biggest polluters.
In brief: Tech World Highlights
- Xiaomi has reportedly launched a $630 flagship smartphone, aimed at competing with Apple’s iPhone 17.
- Australian researchers are developing a shark bite–resistant wetsuit for surfers, testing four materials against tiger and great white shark bites.
- Waymo has introduced “Waymo for Business,” a new service that lets companies create accounts so employees can use robotaxis in major cities.
- Smartphone maker Nothing is spinning off its affordable brand CMF into a separate India-based subsidiary, aiming for global expansion of budget-friendly phones.
- Meta is opening new Meta Lab pop-up stores this fall in Las Vegas, New York, and Los Angeles, where it will showcase and demo its smart glasses and VR hardware.
AI Trending Tools:
- Qwen-Image-Edit – Qwen’s new model for image editing.
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- M3 Agent – ByteDance Seed’s multimodal agent with long-term memory.
