Antarctic expedition seeks ancient ice for climate study - Interesting Engineering

Antarctic expedition seeks ancient ice for climate study
US scientists seek 800,000-year-old Antarctic ice for climate study“The study of ice has shown us with extreme clarity what humans are doing to the Earth.”Shubhangi DuaPublished: Dec 27, 2023 02:51 PM ESTscienceAntarctica expedition to drill into ice and analyse climate changeelmvilla / iStock Get a daily digest of the latest news in tech, science, and technology, delivered right to your mailbox. Subscribe now.By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Policies You may unsubscribe at any time.With glaciers and sea ice rapidly melting in the last decade, a team of scientists embarked on an expedition to Antarctica to investigate the most ancient ice, aiming to enhance understanding of climate change.CBS reported that American scientists in Antarctica, collaborating with COLDEX – a federally funded initiative involving various American universities and science organizations — have ventured on this initiative. Ice cores reveal past climate analysisThey are conducting an expedition in Antarctica to locate and retrieve samples of the oldest ice ever found. Scientists said the ice cores contain vital information about past climates, particularly greenhouse gas levels and their impact on climate change."The information that we get, particularly from ice cores, is just so critical to our bedrock understanding of how Earth's climate works," stated Peter Neff, field research director for COLDEX. See Also Related Over 40 percent of Antarctica ice shelves melted in 25 years Antarctica: Missing ice five times the size of British Isles Irreversible Antarctica: ‘No quick fix’, scientists claim The expedition spans seven weeks, during which the team camps on the ice and will collect ice samples. The aim is to extend the continuous ice core record beyond 800,000 years to 1.5 million years or even further."We don't claim that by going back in time, we're necessarily going to see something exactly like what we're seeing now," Ed Brook, the director of COLDEX, said. "What we're looking for are all the different ways the system can behave when it's warmer."Aiming to comprehend Earth's climateThe mission's purpose is to understand better Earth's climate and how it functioned in the past. "The study of ice has shown us with extreme clarity what humans are doing to the Earth," stated Brook.According to CBS, scientists will collect ice cores by drilling deep into the ice to extract samples. These samples are then transported in climate-controlled packaging to prevent melting. Once in the US, the cores will be studied in various university labs, including Princeton University, to analyze the trapped air bubbles for climate data."I still get like very trapped up in the idea of, like, this little bubble used to be part of the atmosphere 4 million years ago, and then it like kind of got trapped up in the ice sheet, and now it's in New Jersey, and we're measuring it," said Sarah Shackleton, COLDEX field researcher.Analyzing ice cores could help scientists comprehend the historical levels of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, providing insights into the planet's climate changes and understanding current climate change. HomeScienceAdd Interesting Engineering to your Google News feed.Add Interesting Engineering to your Google News feed.SHOW COMMENT (1) For You The future of wildfires: Navigating climate, tradition, and technologySolar truck from Switzerland sets EV altitude record at 6,500 metersHelicity Space's nuclear fusion engine could fly a spacecraft to Mars in just 4 monthsWhy M109 Paladin and M982 Excalibur are feared by RussiansSocial media giants bagged $11 billion in ads from underage users in 2022UK rocket company edges closer to first sustainable satellite launchBuilding cities with reduced carbon footprints — how can it be done?China's Beidou triumph clouded by rocket booster incidentHackers expose thousands of parking app users to data breach riskThe dark side of our toilet paper — and it's not the poop Job Board