Ice Memory
initiative preserving glacier ice
Ice Memory is an international initiative which aims to constitute the first world library of archived glacier ice, to preserve this invaluable scientific heritage for the generations to come, when future techniques can obtain even more data from these samples.
In 2015, the Ice Memory project started with the meeting of Jérôme Chappellaz - CNRS - EPFL, Patrick Ginot - IRD (IGE/UGA-CNRS-IRD-G-INP) from France and Carlo Barbante (CNR/Ca’Foscari Univ. of Venice) from Italy to conduct drilling expeditions worldwide and safeguard the data present in the ice - the memory of the ice - in an sanctuary in Antarctica.
According to UNESCO and IUCN report "World Heritage glaciers: sentinels of climate change" announcing that about 30% of glaciers recognized as World Heritage Sites will disappear by 2050 and 50% by 2100 without drastic and immediate reduction in greenhouse gases, the Ice Memory initiative has been described as urgent and meaningful for humanity's wellbeing and acknowledged by UNESCO in 2017
Indeed, previous glaciology research made by notably Claude Lorius, Glaciologist and Ice Memory first supporter, Dominique Raynaud and Jean Jouzel aimed to prove the link between atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases and climate change while studying ice cores.
In the coming decades, it is expected that researchers will have new ideas and techniques to develop those scientific results. For instance, they may be able to isolate other information contained in the ice of which we are not aware today.
This scientific information trapped in the ice — synthesised and highlighted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — is a useful element in the crucial decisions of how to shape international environmental and climate policy.
History
Since its beginnings in 2015, the Ice Memory project conducted nine drilling expeditions in France, Italy, Switzerland, Bolivia, Russia and Norway (Svalbard).
in 2023 at Colle del Lys / Italy, the team collected 2 ice cores of 105 and 106 m length recovering 150–200 years of planet history
in 2023 at Svalbard / Norway, the team collected 3 ice cores of 74 m length recovering 300–400 years of planet history
in 2022 at Kilimanjaro / Tanzania, the team could not reach the summit for diplomatic issues
in 2021 at Monte Rosa / Italy, the team collected 3 ice cores of 130 m length recovering 300–400 years of planet history
in 2020 at Grand Combin / Switzerland, the team collected 3 ice cores of 16, 18 and 26 m length
in 2018 at Elbrus / Russia, the team collected 2 ice cores of 150 and 120 m length recovering more than 500 years of planet history
in 2018 at Belukha / Russia, the team collected 2 ice cores of 160 and 106 m length
in 2017 at Illimani / Bolivia, the team collected 2 ice cores of 137 and 134 m length recovering 18 000 years of planet history,
in 2016 at Col du Dôme / France, the team collected 3 ice cores of 128 m length recovering more than 200 years of planet history
Ice core science
By trapping the different components of the atmosphere, ice represents an invaluable source of information for tracing our environmental past, for providing an account of past climate change, and especially for helping us understand our future.
Variations in temperature, atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, natural aerosol emissions, pollutants produced by humans.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ice Memory” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.