EU project explains climate change mystery
A team of European scientists working on the European Ice Core Project in Antarctica (EPICA) have announced they are now able to predict the future climate following the analysis of a 740,000 year old fragment of the Antarctic's ice crust. The EPICA project, funded by the European Commission, brings together scientists from ten European countries, who drilled into the thick Antarctic surface and extracted a huge chunk of ice. This ice core, which contains snowfall from the last 740,000 years and is able to indicate variations in temperatures and concentrations of gases and particles in the atmosphere, was analysed with computer models and used to predict the climate of the future. A first round of results found that 'without human influence, the present 'warm season' in Earth's climate could last for 15,000 more years.' However, it was also found that 'the present carbon dioxide concentration is the highest in the last 440,000 years,' explained the European Commission in a statement. The project team, therefore hopes that by understanding past changes in climate, it will be possible to predict future climate change caused by human activities. 'I am proud to see that EU research is at the forefront of climate change research. Thanks to the EU's research programmes, European scientists are able to work together and be at the cutting edge of science, in climate change research as in other fields,' said European Research Commissioner, Philippe Busquin. 'When European researchers work together, they are the best.' The researchers extracted air from bubbles in the ice and analysed it to understand how the Earth's climate has changed over time. They found that the Earth has experienced eight ice ages and eight warmer periods over the last 740,000 years. In the last 400,000 years, it was discovered that the warm periods have had a temperature similar to that of today. The researchers then went on to compare past climate patterns with present global environmental conditions and found that although the present warm period could last another 15 000 years without the interference of humans, human activities are now much more influential than in the past and might significantly change the future climate. EPICA therefore aims to forecast future changes, and in particular, to assess the impact of human activities such as changes in land use and greenhouse gas emissions. The scientists on the team hope to keep drilling and 'reach the rocks at the base of the ice sheet. They should then reach ice over 900,000 years old at the base,' explained the Commission.