Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Prioritize environmental sustainability in use of AI and data science methods

Nature Geoscience volume 17, pages 106–108 (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data science will play a crucial role in improving environmental sustainability, but the energy requirements of these methods will have an increasingly negative effect on the environment without sustainable design and use.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Recognizing the environmental impact of computational environmental science research.

References

  1. Fankenhauser, S. et al. Nat. Clim. Change 12, 15–21 (2022).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Conner, A. et al. Tackling Climate Change with Data Science and AI (The Alan Turing Institute, 2023).

  3. Al Kez, D. et al. J. Clean. Prod. 371, 133633 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Freitag, C. et al. Patterns 2, 100340 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Gharamani, Z. Independent Review of the Future of Compute: Final Report and Recommendations (GOV.UK, 2023).

  6. Digital Technology and the Planet: Harnessing Computing to Achieve Net Zero (Royal Society, 2020).

  7. Lannelongue, L. et al. Nat. Comput. Sci. 3, 514–521 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Connectivity in the Least Developed Nations: Status Report 2021 (UN, 2021).

  9. Digital Solutions Hub: User Research Report (ODM, 2023).

Download references

Acknowledgements

The workshop that generated the ideas for this comment was supported by the Alan Turing Institute. C.J. was supported by the Software Sustainability Institute grant EP/S021779/1. C.J. and D.T. were supported by the NERC Digital Solutions Programme. L.L. was supported by core funding from the British Heart Foundation (RG/18/13/33946); the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (BRC-1215-20014; NIHR203312); the Cambridge British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence (RE/18/1/34212); and the BHF Chair Award (CH/12/2/29428). E.L. was funded by a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (MR/T019832/1). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Caroline Jay

  2. Software Sustainability Institute, Edinburgh, UK

    Caroline Jay, Robert Haines & Loïc Lannelongue

  3. Alan Turing Institute, London, UK

    Caroline Jay, Gavin Shaddick, Emily Lines, Scott Hosking & David Topping

  4. Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, London, UK

    Yurong Yu

  5. School of Natural Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Ian Crawford & David Topping

  6. Research IT, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Scott Archer-Nicholls, Ann Gledson & Robert Haines

  7. School of Engineering, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, UK

    Philip James

  8. School of Engineering, Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, London, UK

    Gavin Shaddick

  9. Cambridge Baker Systems Genomics Initiative, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Loïc Lannelongue

  10. British Heart Foundation Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Loïc Lannelongue

  11. Victor Phillip Dahdaleh Heart and Lung Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Loïc Lannelongue

  12. Health Data Research UK Cambridge, Wellcome Genome Campus and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Loïc Lannelongue

  13. Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Emily Lines

  14. British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK

    Scott Hosking

Authors
  1. Caroline Jay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yurong Yu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ian Crawford
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Scott Archer-Nicholls
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Philip James
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Ann Gledson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Gavin Shaddick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Robert Haines
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Loïc Lannelongue
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Emily Lines
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Scott Hosking
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. David Topping
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Caroline Jay.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jay, C., Yu, Y., Crawford, I. et al. Prioritize environmental sustainability in use of AI and data science methods. Nat. Geosci. 17, 106–108 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01369-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01369-y

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing