Swiss science seeks answers to climate change in Antarctic ice

Researchers at the University of Bern are studying some of the oldest ice samples on the planet using a revolutionary technique. Their goal is to shed light on one of the major mysteries of Earth’s climate. Florian Krauss walks briskly. He has no time to waste. In a thermal bag he carries an ice rod the size of a bar of soap – too precious to be compromised. It’s a unique ice sample, dating back over 1.2 million years. “There’s no room for error, but it’s exciting to work with such special ice,” he says. Krauss, a researcher at the University of Bern, retrieved the ice from a room kept at -50°C at the Institute for Climate and Environmental Physics. It’s the only ice core facility in Europe that can maintain this temperature and was designed to store ancient fragile ice cores. The collection includes samples taken last January in Antarctica at a record depth of over 2,500 metres. They are being preserved as part of the European project Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice. The project’s goal ...