Frozen in Time: Climate Clues Hidden in Ice

This video demonstrates how scientists have unearthed over 800,000 years of past climate and atmospheric data trapped in ice cores. The video shows how atmospheric carbon, oxygen, and other gases become trapped in polar ice. Over the last few decades, scientists have learned how to extract miles-long ice cores for study. By reading the clues trapped in these ice cores, scientists can reconstruct the Earth’s past climates and better predict future climate. The data from these ice cores indicates that when atmospheric carbon dioxide levels increase, global temperatures increase over 800,000 years of the earth’s history.

This video was produced in 2018 for the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's David H. Koch Hall of Fossils: Deep Time. https://naturalhistory.si.edu/exhibit...