An worldwide staff of scientists has efficiently drilled almost two miles into Antarctic bedrock, extracting one of many oldest ice cores thus far, estimated to be a minimum of 1.2 million years outdated.
The breakthrough guarantees to supply unprecedented insights into Earth’s atmospheric and local weather historical past, doubtlessly reshaping understanding of Ice Age cycles and atmospheric carbon’s function in local weather change.
“Thanks to the ice core, we are going to perceive what has modified when it comes to greenhouse gases, chemical substances, and dusts within the ambiance,” stated Carlo Barbante, an Italian glaciologist and coordinator of Beyond EPICA, the analysis venture behind the drilling effort.
The core drilling befell at Little Dome C, close to the Concordia Research Station, the place temperatures common round minus-35°C. Over 4 years, a 16-member staff meticulously labored every Antarctic summer time to finish the drill, lastly reaching bedrock in early January.
Preliminary isotope analyses affirm the ice’s age as exceeding 1.2 million years. Barbante highlighted that earlier findings from an 800,000-year-old core revealed greenhouse gasoline ranges, together with carbon dioxide and methane, by no means exceeded pre-Industrial Revolution concentrations—even throughout heat durations.
However, right this moment’s carbon dioxide ranges are roughly 50% increased than any ranges recorded in that historical span.
The Beyond EPICA venture, led by Italy and funded by the European Union, goals to deepen data of Earth’s environmental previous. Richard Alley, a Penn State local weather scientist unaffiliated with the analysis, celebrated the accomplishment as “actually, actually, amazingly improbable,” emphasising its significance for advancing local weather science and understanding Earth’s deeper historical past past ice data.
“The data gained from this discovery will present scientists with invaluable instruments to evaluate each pure local weather variability and the consequences of human actions,” Alley added.
Historic: Scientists extract 1.2-million-year-old ice core in Antarctic – Times of India
