Understanding ancient climates: Learnings from Beyond EPICA - Cambridge Climate and Nature Research

An enormous mountain range rises above the flat plain of sea ice.

Knowledge of past climate change has been an integral part of informing efforts to mitigate contemporary global warming. A greater resolution of ancient climatic shifts, as far back in time as possible, serves to refine this knowledge further.

Cambridge researchers have put themselves at the forefront of this field of study. In this project, ice cores are analysed to provide information about past climates, dating back 1.2 million years, as part of the wider Beyond EPICA project. Not only this, but the method used to extract the trapped atmospheric gas was refined by Cambridge academics to more accurately detect carbon dioxide.

The results will reveal how greenhouse gas levels (and their contribution to global warming) in glacial and interglacial periods changed over time, which can be applied to inform the progression and risks of the climate crisis today.