Climate Trace, the nonprofit co-founded by Al Gore, has just unveiled a groundbreaking AI-powered tool designed to monitor fine particulate pollution (PM2.5) from over 660 million sources worldwide. While most people are familiar with the idea that burning fossil fuels drives climate change, fewer realize that it also creates deadly microscopic particles responsible for as many as 10 million deaths each year.
Gore explained that one of his long-standing concerns has been the lack of accessible, precise data on air pollution. People often don’t know what they’re inhaling, where the pollution is coming from, or how much of it is present in their environment. Climate Trace, originally launched as a global greenhouse gas tracking initiative, saw an opportunity to fill this gap. The idea took root after Gore worked with communities in Memphis, Tennessee, who were opposing a proposed crude oil pipeline that threatened their drinking water. He noticed how pollution from a nearby refinery regularly drifted over neighborhoods, and asked the coalition at Climate Trace if such pollutants could be tracked globally.
The result is a platform that not only provides raw data on major polluters but also offers striking visualizations of PM2.5 plumes near major cities. Eventually, these visual maps will be expanded to cover the entire globe. As Gore noted, the sheer scale of monitoring hundreds of millions of pollution sources would have been unthinkable without AI — but now, machine learning makes it possible to turn massive data streams into actionable insights.
Scientists have increasingly uncovered the dangers of PM2.5 beyond lung cancer and heart disease, linking it to conditions such as low birth weight, diabetes, dementia, Parkinson’s, and even kidney disease. Even at legally “safe” levels, the particles are responsible for tens of thousands of premature deaths in the U.S. each year.
Gore hopes that highlighting the public health toll of fossil fuel pollution will accelerate the global shift to cleaner energy. Just as research into leaded gasoline once spurred regulatory action, he believes this tool can help build political will to transition away from carbon-intensive infrastructure toward healthier, more sustainable alternatives.
About the Author
