Forecasting Antarctic Ice Sheet Elevation Change with Machine Learning

The Antarctic Ice Sheet holds incredible amounts of water, and any changes to it are capable of severely altering the Earth’s climate. This study examines the impacts of global warming on Antarctic Ice Cap elevation in the Antarctic Peninsula, and uses supervised machine learning techniques to forecast the predictions. We utilize historical ice sheet elevation data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center, as well as historical temperature data from the Copernicus Climate Data Store. With the data, we use machine learning models to identify trends in the past temperatures and ice sheet elevation changes. We then assess the accuracy of the predictions made by the models by examining the RMSE and plot the forecast for the next 30 years. These forecasts can provide valuable insights for policymakers regarding environmental consequences and concerns for possible rises in sea level.