Google adds AI chatbot to Earth for climate monitoring and disaster prediction

Google has introduced chatbot-style AI features to Google Earth, allowing users to ask natural language questions to track climate changes and environmental disasters. The system combines Google’s Earth platform with Gemini AI to analyze satellite data and predict which communities are most likely to be affected by climate events, marking a significant step toward AI-powered environmental monitoring and disaster preparedness.

How it works: Google Earth AI uses the AlphaEarth Foundations model to convert massive amounts of satellite data into searchable information layers that track planetary changes over time.

• Users can now interact with the system by asking questions like “find algae blooms” to monitor water supplies, and the AI will search satellite images and collected data to provide relevant results.
• The platform uses a Gemini-powered geospatial reasoning model that combines Earth AI with weather, population, imagery, and historical data to identify patterns in how disasters affect different regions.
• The goal is to predict not only where hurricanes are headed, but also which communities are most vulnerable to their impacts.

What you can track: The system enables users to monitor various environmental changes and climate indicators across different time periods.

• Users can examine rising water levels in flood zones, chart surface temperature changes across regions, and assess the effectiveness of clean air policies by studying pollution data.
• The platform provides access to historical landscape data that reveals major climate shifts over the years.

Pricing and availability: The new chatbot capabilities are only available through Google Earth’s professional subscription plans, which launched this month.

• The Professional tier costs $75 per month and includes access to advanced data layers like surface temperature and elevation contours.
• The Professional Advanced tier is priced at $150 per month.
• Some core features, including timelapse videos of certain global regions, remain available on the free standard version of Google Earth.

The bigger picture: This release represents Google’s latest effort to demonstrate its climate-focused initiatives amid growing scrutiny of AI’s environmental impact.

• The company has previously partnered with satellite manufacturers to monitor disasters like wildfires from low Earth orbit and collaborated with researchers to create a database tracking global power plant activity.
• The timing comes as questions mount about whether Google’s environmental efforts can offset the increasing energy demands of AI systems.