Scientists Pull 1.2 Million-Year-Old Ice Core From Antarctic 

This week, an international team of scientists announced that they were successful in drilling one of the oldest ice cores in human history. The team drilled nearly two miles deep into Antarctic bedrock to reach ice that they claim is at least 1.2 million years old, according to reports from the Associated Press. 

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The scientists are hoping that by analyzing the ancient ice, they’ll gain a greater understanding of Earth’s atmospheric and climate evolution. Specifically, they want to learn more about how Ice Age cycles have changed, and how carbon in the atmosphere has changed our planet’s climate. 

“Thanks to the ice core we will understand what has changed in terms of greenhouse gases, chemicals, and dust in the atmosphere,” said Carlo Barbante, an Italian glaciologist and coordinator of Beyond EPICA, the project to obtain the core. 

A team of 16 scientists worked on this recent drilling project along with support personnel drilling every summer throughout four years. The team was working in conditions, on average, of about minus 25.6 degrees Fahrenheit. 

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“It was a great moment for us when we reached the bedrock” said Federico Scoto, an Italian researcher who worked on the project.

“Today we are seeing carbon dioxide levels that are 50% above the highest levels we’ve had over the last 800,000 years,” Barbante said. The analysis of the ice core showed that concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have never exceeded the levels seen since the Industrial Revolution began, according to AP. 

The European Union funded “Beyond EPICA” (European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica). Nations across Europe supported the project with Italy coordinating. 

The data collected from this project will help scientists understand the climate conditions of the past and how human activities have contributed to climate change the way we see it today.