Antarctica’s oldest ice arrives for ‘climate analysis’  – British Antarctic Survey

Ice core sample [image credit: Discovering Antarctica]

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Historically CO2 levels followed temperature changes, but nowadays temperature is supposed to be the result of CO2 changes, as the authors of this press release obviously believe. What might these ice cores show that isn’t already known? Time will tell.
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BAS Press release: A consignment of ancient ice from Antarctica, extracted as part of the Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice project, arrived at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in Cambridge for detailed analysis this month.

The ice cores — cylindrical tubes of ancient ice – were retrieved from depths of up to 2,800 metres at Little Dome C in East Antarctica.

Extracted during the fourth drilling campaign of the project, these cores are expected to reveal a climate and atmospheric record stretching back more than 1.5 million years.

Over the next few years, these samples will be meticulously analysed at laboratories across Europe, including at BAS, to unlock secrets about the Earth’s climate evolution and greenhouse gas concentrations.
. . .
Dr Liz Thomas, Head of the Ice Cores team at the British Antarctic Survey, said:

It’s incredibly exciting to be part of this international effort to unlock the deepest secrets of Antarctica’s ice. The project is driven by a central scientific question: why did the planet’s climate cycle shift roughly one million years ago from a 41,000-year to a 100,000-year phasing of glacial-interglacial cycles? By extending the ice core record beyond this turning point, researchers hope to improve predictions of how Earth’s climate may respond to future greenhouse gas increases.

There is no other place on Earth that retains such a long record of the past atmosphere as Antarctica. It’s our best hope to understand the fundamental drivers of Earth’s climate shifts.”

Dr Thomas concludes:

Our data will yield the first continuous reconstructions of key environmental indicators—including atmospheric temperatures, wind patterns, sea ice extent, and marine productivity—spanning the past 1.5 million years. This unprecedented ice core dataset will provide vital insights into the link between atmospheric CO₂ levels and climate during a previously uncharted period in Earth’s history, offering valuable context for predicting future climate change.”

Full press release here.