Climate History: Cold Hard Proof

An international team of researchers, in collaboration with the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), has recovered a continuous Antarctic ice core which bears information on the climate, dating back 1.2 million years. This discovery is considered a historic milestone in climate research. The longest continuous ice core previously to date was recovered in 2004, also in Antarctica, and dated back approximately 800,000 years. The scientists from the project “Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice”, funded by the European Commission, are hoping that this new ice core will provide them with insights into the climate dynamics of the middle Pleistocene – a geological period during which ice-age cycles slowed from 41,000 years to 100,000 years. To this day, this phenomenon is considered to be one of the major riddles of climate science

According to a statement by the AWI, understanding the frequency of ice-age cycles is not only important for the past history of the planet, and humanity, but also for our future. This ice core, together with additional ice cores, was transported to Europe by ship, at great expense. In early summer, intensive research will commence in the ice laboratory of the AWI in Bremerhaven.