Are there any specific tools that scientists use to study/investigate ice ages/glaciers?
To determine the rate at which our planet’s temperature is increasing, scientists take “satellite images” of the ice (glacier) for a minimum of five years and compare the results. Also, scientists gather samples by using powerful “drills” to bore into the ice. After drilling, scientists extract cores of ice and carefully package them in “insulated containers”, so the samples can be sent to their laboratories for analysis. The isotope composition from this ice core can then be determined to estimate such things as temperature, precipitation rate, wind speed, and greenhouse gas concentration over extremely long periods, since the isotopes are frozen in the ice in a virtually timeless record.
