Geographical Magazine September 2024 Edizione posteriore

Can AI save us from climate change? The latest tools can now predict extreme weather events more precisely – and more quickly – than traditional methods, can be used to track melting icebergs, ocean plastics and endangered species, and can streamline recycling processes and make household heating more efficient. But as Mark Rowe reports in this month's cover story, which takes stock of both the the possibilities and the risks, a lot of uncertainties around AI's potential contributions climate mitigation still remain.

Also in the September issue: local campaigners win legal rights for Europe's largest and endangered salt lagoon; Nick Danziger reports from Burkina Faso on the awful impact of the world’s most common genetic disease – sickle cell; Stuart Butler reports on a scheme to make tourists work to conserve a fragile ecology; and stunning images of Britain's great, but disappearing, elm trees.