Ice Memory

Ice Memory is an international initiative which aims to constitute the first world library of archived glacier ice, to preserve this invaluable scientific heritage for the generations to come, when future techniques can obtain even more data from these samples.

In 2015, the Ice Memory project started with the meeting of Jérôme Chappellaz - CNRS - EPFL, Patrick Ginot - IRD (IGE/UGA-CNRS-IRD-G-INP) from France and Carlo Barbante (CNR/Ca’Foscari Univ. of Venice) from Italy to conduct drilling expeditions worldwide and safeguard the data present in the ice - the memory of the ice - in an sanctuary in Antarctica.

According to UNESCO and IUCN report "World Heritage glaciers: sentinels of climate change" announcing that about 30% of glaciers recognized as World Heritage Sites will disappear by 2050 and 50% by 2100 without a drastic and immediate reduction in greenhouse gases, the Ice Memory initiative has been described as urgent and meaningful for humanity wellbeing and acknowledged by UNESCO in 2017

Indeed, previous glaciology researches made by notably Claude Lorius, Glaciologist and Ice Memory first supporter, Dominique Raynaud and Jean Jouzel aimed to prove the link between atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases and climate change while studying ice cores.

In the coming decades, it is expected that researchers will have new ideas and techniques to develop those scientific results. For instance, they may be able to isolate other information contained in the ice of which we are not aware today.

This scientific information trapped in the ice — synthesised and highlighted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — is a useful element in the crucial decisions of how to shape international environmental and climate policy.