A group of British scientists is reaching back through time to seek a better understanding of the Earth's climate future. To do so, the researchers have drilled the deepest distance ever into the ice at the bottom of the world. Rebecca Morelle from BBC reports.

London

A team of British scientists has drilled the deepest ice core ever from Antarctica, retrieving samples estimated to be at least 1.2 million years old. The ice core, now stored at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, contains detailed records of past temperatures, snowfall, wind patterns, and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

By slowly melting and analyzing the ice, researchers hope to reconstruct Earth's climate history and better understand current changes. The concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere today is higher than at any time in the past 800,000 years, making this research critical for improving predictions about future climate shifts. The analysis of the ancient ice is expected to take several weeks.

What ancient ice could reveal about our future

A group of British scientists are reaching back through time to seek a better understanding of the Earth's climate future. To do so, the researchers have drilled the deepest ever into the ice at the bottom of the world. In tonight's In Depth, Rebecca Murrell from our global news partner, the BBC, reports they hope the mystery encased in the ice will melt away. Yes! Extracted from deep beneath Antarctica, a core of ice, the oldest that's ever been collected. And it holds a unique record, going back more than a million years. OK, come on in, I'll switch the lights on. Now the ancient ice has arrived at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge. So these are the boxes. There are 190 pieces, each a metre long. I'm going to do it very, very carefully. Kept at minus 23 degrees in the freezer. This is the most precious sample, because what we've actually got out on the bench in front of us is the oldest ever ice core. So we're hoping that this record is going to actually go back at least 1.2 million years, hopefully 1.5, but it could actually be even older. The scientists set up camp in East Antarctica, drilling the ice cores from a depth of 2.8 kilometres over a period of four years. It needed painstaking precision. The only way you can find out what's in this ice is to melt it. This piece here contains about 20,000 years of history. So by melting it incredibly slowly, millimetre by millimetre, you can find out how the world was changing over time. The ice will reveal variations in temperature, snowfall and even wind patterns. The tiny bubbles inside give a snapshot of the carbon dioxide levels. Working from the youngest ice to the very oldest will reconstruct the Earth's climate history and help scientists understand the changes we're seeing today. The concentration of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere today are higher than at any time in the last 800,000 years. So we know we're in an unusual climate period. We want to understand how the climate is going to change in the future. And essentially as much information as we can provide about how the climate has changed in the past is going to improve our predictions. It will take about seven weeks to melt and study the precious samples. Once they're gone, they're gone. But it's a chance to unlock the deepest secrets held in Antarctica's ancient ice. Rebecca Morrell, BBC News.

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