Scientists in Germany are studying the 1.2 million years old ice core obtained from Antarctica after years of drilling in temperature of 35 ° C (-31 Fahrenheit).
International teams reached a depth of 2.800 meters (1.74 mi) in the Antarctic ice sheet to claim the oldest continuous ice core for bees. Scientists are now hoping that it will unlock important information about the Earth’s climate.
“The ice core is climate archives, so they tell us something about the Earth’s climate history,” said Maria Horld, Glasiologist. Alfred Vegener Institute (AWI), Where one of the samples is being studied.
The core contains air bubbles, which allow scientists to measure the amount of greenhouse gases, such as CO2, the hero in the atmosphere over the last 1.2 million years.
They hope that ice core can help scientists better understand climate change by highlighting the relationship between the carbon cycle and the temperature on the planet.
Improvement in predictions on climate
In the previous ice core samples, the researchers were able to look at the warm period with turn -off with cold, or glacial periods, which occurred in almost every 100,000 years. But looking back and forth, the nature of the cold occurred more often – around every 40,000 years.
“This is primarily drive, for example, by planetary characteristics, such as how Earth is posted towards the Sun,” Horld told DW. “But people do not know why we moved from the cycle of 40,000 years ago from 1.5 million years ago, which we have today.”
By expanding the 800,000 yard ice core records and to find out why the cycle changed, researchers hope to “the Earth’s climate can respond to the growth of future greenhouse gas, expected to improve its predictions,” Liz Thomas said. British Antarctic Survey.
Thomas said in a statement, “There is no other place on Earth that maintains a long record of the previous atmosphere as Antarctica.” “This is our best hope to understand the original drivers of Earth’s climate change.”
CO2 concentrations more than ever
Scientists already know the concentrations of greenhouse gases, such as CO2, were low during the cold period on Earth. During the hot time, the construction of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere prevents the heat from survival.
“The idea is that you understand how the climate interacts internally, so how the atmospheric pattern interacts, how the height of the ice sheets interacts with the level, and so,” he told DW, saying that the study of the ice core will implement the understanding of those interactions.
However, he said that even during the previous warm period in the history of the Earth, the CO2 concentrations were much less than today. The current high level is primarily the result of human-operated global warming, which is caused by the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and gas.
A project across Europe
PAN-European Ice Core is part of the study Beyond Experiment – The oldest snow Project.
The ice sample has been cut into one meter of Languth pieces. Thesis is now given for processing in small sub-nums in organizations including Avi Polar and Marine Institute in Bremmerhavan, Germany, and the British Antarctic survey at Cambridge, UK.
But Horudold said that it would take at least one year to be published for the first time, while other discoveries will take more time.
Nevertheless, for scientists such as Horust, who have been part of the oldest ice project over the years, the recovery of the ice core is an exciting new opportunity to learn more about the Earth.
“For each of us, it was very special; for that ice in our hands to know that it is real old and an unprecedented ice core record,” said Horust. “This is a real honor for us that we are responsible for processing here.”
Edited by: Jennifer Colins