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Unique Ice, 1.5m Years Old, to Be Melted to Unlock Mystery

ANTARCTICA, JUL 18 – Scientists at the British Antarctic Survey will melt a 1.5 million-year-old ice core over seven weeks to study ancient greenhouse gas levels and the Mid-Pleistocene Transition, a critical climate shift.

  • A research group headed by Dr. Liz Thomas at the British Antarctic Survey’s facility in Cambridge will spend seven weeks carefully melting Antarctic ice cores that are 1.5 million years old to investigate the planet’s past climate.
  • The ice cores, extracted from a depth of 2,800 metres near the Concordia research station, are intended to investigate the reasons behind a major shift in Earth's climatic cycles that occurred roughly from one million to 1.2 million years ago during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition.
  • Researchers will use continuous flow analysis to measure chemical elements, particles, and isotopes to reconstruct atmospheric conditions and past climate cycles beyond the existing 800,000-year record.
  • Dr. Thomas said the data will provide vital insights into greenhouse gas levels during this unexplored period and could “revolutionise” climate change understanding and future predictions.
  • The research could clarify how ancient shifts affected sea levels and ice sheets, offering critical context for anticipating Earth's future response to rising greenhouse gases.
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In Cambridge, the "world's oldest ice" from Antarctica is ready for analysis. The ice cores may be 1.5 million years old, or even older. Scientists are very curious about the results, because the ice could teach us new things about the climate a million years ago. Even then, CO2 levels in the atmosphere were quite high.

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BBC News broke the news in United Kingdom on Friday, July 18, 2025.
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