How AI and Satellites Can Help Us Skate On Thin Ice

On Thin Ice

Artificial intelligence, quantum computing and satellites have the potential to exponentially improve our capability to monitor and predict the impacts of climate change on our environment.

As floods and natural disasters hit Nepal and other countries this summer, in this episode of the On Thin Ice podcast we look at how new technologies and other proven methods can help stay safe in the mountains and in the great outdoors.

Host Paolo Bosonin speaks with Laura Kottlowski, professional ice skater and influencer with tens of millions of viewers on TikTok and Instagram, and Tenzing Chogyal Sherpa, glaciologist at ICIMOD.

Laura Kottlowski shares her insights from years of studying frozen lakes around the world, and explains how her discipline is having to adapt to the loss of ice around the world, where many natural ice rinks are quickly disappearing.

Tenzing Chogyal Sherpa, who has been closely watching the evolution of glaciers around Mount Everest and other parts of the Himalayas, breaks down some of the dangers faced by local populations: with melting glaciers, there are more and more lakes that could outburst and cause massive damage to villages and people living downstream.

But Tenzing, Laura and other scientists say artificial intelligence and machine learning can scale up their ability to process satellite images and other data, allowing for a better understanding of the consequences of higher temperatures on our world’s ice - and on the communities whose lives depend on it.

So can AI help us mitigate the risks brought by climate change? Listen to On Thin Ice, produced in partnership with the Bally Peak Outlook Foundation.

Head to ballypeakoutlook.org/ to learn more about the foundation, which is on a mission to safeguard the world's fragile mountain habitats from the adverse effects of global warming and excessive tourism.

LINKS:

https://www.ballypeakoutlook.org/

https://www.iceworm.media

https://www.instagram.com/laurakottlowski/?hl=en

https://www.tiktok.com/@laura.kottlowski?lang=en

https://www.icimod.org/

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/group/ai-for-good-research-lab/ai-for-good-book/

PRODUCTION CREDITS:

Production: Iceworm Media

Editorial advisor: David Vetter

Video Editor: Canyon James

Original Music: Nadir Cassim

TAGS:

AI, Artifical Intelligence, Satellites, Climate Change, AI for Good, science, alpinism, climbing, glaciologist, Sherpa, Namche Bazar, Thame, Lobuche, Quantum computing, climate change, Everest, Floods, disasters, Nepal, Colorado, Ice Skating, TikTok, Instgram, Influencer, Safety, Ice, Thin Ice, Natural Rinks

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