Why ice cores?
Instruments have reliably measured climate for the past century. To understand the natural variability of climate requires knowledge of the environment prior to instrumentation. Ice cores enable high- resolution reconstructions of climate going back as far as 450,000 years. They are essential tools in the research of UMaine’s Climate Change Institute, directed by scientist Paul Mayewski. A frozen clock The problem: how to tell one year from the next. The answer: look for a clock in the ice, something that reaches a peak during the same time of the year, every year. The levels of many chemicals transported by wind rise and fall with the seasons. For example, sulfate is produced in summer by sea life such as phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean; in winter, sea salt is transported inland when marine storms intensify. Deposited in the ice, these chemicals leave records of past climates. Photo courtesy of The Climate Change Institute Think life is tough where you work? Scientists from UMaine
