1. QualityTime-ESL1 Glaciology and Global Warming What is the connection? Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2015

2. QualityTime-ESL2 Climate Change: Today vs Tomorrow Average temperature today = 15° C –Without the greenhouse effect: -18°C –Over the past century: A rise of 0.7° C Predictions (The most catastrophic!) –A rise of up to 6° C –Over the next 100 years Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2015

3. QualityTime-ESL3 The Procedure Measurements? Traces of the ancient atmosphere? Answer: the world’s archives A huge refrigerator Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2015

4. QualityTime-ESL4 Midnight Sun Over Antarctica Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2015

5. QualityTime-ESL5 Antarctica Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2015

6. QualityTime-ESL.com6 EPICA European Project of Ice Coring in Antarctica Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2015

7. Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2015 QualityTime-ESL7 Drilling for Ice Samples

8. Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 QualityTime-ESL.com8 Antarctica Continent Twice size of the USA Driest place on earth Winds up to 320 km/h Among the highest mountains

9. QualityTime-ESL9 The Transarctic Mountains Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2015

10. QualityTime-ESL.com10 The Long Trip of a Tiny Snowflake 65% of the world’s drinking water 95% of the world’s ice Yet a desert - very little precipitation  Story of a snowflake  Compression  Entrapped air  Bubbles of air in the ice  Vectorial forces  Movement (center to the shore)  Fresh water icebergs! Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2015

11. QualityTime-ESL11 An Iceberg! Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2015

12. QualityTime-ESL.com12 The Initial Project: Vostok Station Engineers drilled down to 3,270 m Ice core represents: 400,000 years of compacted ice Ancient atmosphere Vostok-Russian base Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2015

13. QualityTime-ESL13 Ice Core Samples Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2015

14. QualityTime-ESL14 Evolution of the Atmosphere Over the Last 400,000 years They have to …drill “straight” down (through moving ice) After that they have to take the “carrots” of ice up to the surface Carrying out an engineering feat! A shaft: roughly 3,200 m in depth Taking the “samples back” … “the easy part”, but first… Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2015

15. Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 QualityTime-ESL15 An Engineering Feat

16. QualityTime-ESL.com16 Research After Dating the ice samples (Carbon 14) Measurements of radioactivity (visible traces of nuclear bombs) Correlation with identifiable volcanic eruptions in the past Study of marine sediments Analysis of the entrapped air Deuterium Ratio 18 O to 16 O (isotopes) to determine the temperature at formation Greenhouse gases CO2 and methane (in bubbles) –Variation of gases over the years –Correlation between the quantity of these greenhouse gases and the temperature –Temperature  climate prevailing at different periods of time… Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2015

17. QualityTime-ESL17 Predictions …over the next 100 years: The least catastrophic: + 1.5° C The most catastrophic: up to + 6° C…! Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2015

18. QualityTime-ESL.com18 Conclusion A rise of 0.7°C over the past century Up to 21°C by 3000 (from 15°C today) Kyoto Protocol of 1997: a first step – several COP* meetings since then (*Conference of Parties) Urgent measures needed to limit production of harmful greenhouse gases Responsibility of both governments and citizens Only way to save our planet for the generations to come! Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2015

19. QualityTime-ESL19 Acknowledgements We wish to thank the Laboratoire de Glaciologie de Grenoble and its researchers, who participate in EPICA European Project of Ice Coring in Antarctica Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2015

20. QualityTime-ESL20 Thank you for your attention! Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2015