Scientists race to read Austria's melting climate archive

Scientists race to read Austria's melting climate archive

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Scientists are racing to read a rapidly melting archive of climate data going back thousands of years - the inside of Austria's Alpine glaciers.

Mountain glaciers are receding the world over as average global temperatures rise - a phenomenon that will be described in detail in a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change this week.

. Galtuer, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner
Plants grow near a lake in front of Jamtalferner glacier near Galtuer.

Glaciers in Austria, on the eastern edge of the Alps, are particularly sensitive to climate change and have been shrinking even more rapidly than most, making it all the more urgent to examine their contents before they disappear, said Andrea Fischer, a scientist conducting the work.

. Feichten Im Kaunertal, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner
Scientists work next to the drilling tent at Gepatschferner glacier at Weissseespitze summit at over 3,500 meters above sea level.

"We are now roughly at 1920. The rest has already been lost - everything from 1920 until now," Fischer, of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research in Innsbruck, said of her work seeking Austria's oldest ice at the top of the Weissseespitze, a peak more than 3,500 metres high.

"In the next two years we will lose another 70 years (of ice and data)," she added, describing ice at the top of the glacier.

. Feichten Im Kaunertal, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner
Glaciologist Andrea Fischer from the Austrian Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research, examines an ice core of Gepatschferner glacier at Weissseespitze summit.

At the top of this mountain, Fischer and her colleagues have drilled to the bottom of the comparatively undisturbed glacier to extract samples of its ice, which is being analysed for information on the local climate thousands of years ago.

Fischer, whose work has contributed to the IPCC report, believes the ice could be 3,000 to 5,000 years old. Her samples are going through lab testing to date them.

. Feichten Im Kaunertal, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner
An ice core of Gepatschferner glacier waits to be numbered and wrapped at Weissseespitze summit at over 3,500 meters above sea level.

The lower layers are more densely packed than those at the top, meaning that one metre of ice could include thousands of years of data.

"The ice is only a few meters thick. In a few years, this summit will be completely ice-free," she said.

. Neustift Im Stubaital, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner
Environmental physicist Pascal Bohleber from the Austrian Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research, uses a chainsaw to cut out a sample of ice inside an artificial ice tunnel of Schaufelferner glacier at Stubaier glacier ski resort.

While analysis of other materials, such as tree trunks, can provide information on the air temperature in summer, glaciers' ice is a rare source of information on precipitation, she said.

And much of it will soon be lost.

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The challenge is to take current data on how the climate is changing and compare it with the information we have on the climate in previous centuries and millennia.

"The question is, how exceptional is this process? That is what we are determining with this drilling of the ice."

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A view down at snowcapped mountains of Kaunertal valley near Feichten im Kaunertal.
. Feichten Im Kaunertal, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

A view down at snowcapped mountains of Kaunertal valley near Feichten im Kaunertal.

A copilot controls helicopter transportation of gear after an ice drilling run at Gepatschferner glacier at Weissseespitze summit.
. Feichten Im Kaunertal, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

A copilot controls helicopter transportation of gear after an ice drilling run at Gepatschferner glacier at Weissseespitze summit.

A person walks next to covered depots of snow to outlast the summer in a glacier ski resort near the village of St. Leonhard im Pitztal.
. St. Leonhard Im Pitztal, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

A person walks next to covered depots of snow to outlast the summer in a glacier ski resort near the village of St. Leonhard im Pitztal.

A ski slope with snow cannons makes its way downhill to a station of a cablecar on a sunny autumn day near the alpine village of Neustift im Stubaital.
. Neustift Im Stubaital, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

A ski slope with snow cannons makes its way downhill to a station of a cablecar on a sunny autumn day near the alpine village of Neustift im Stubaital.

Glaciologist Andrea Fischer and environmental physicist Pascal Bohleber from the Austrian Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research, inspect the thickness difference of the part of Schaufelferner glacier that is covered with a special fleece fabric protecting ice from sun and heat and the part that is not covered. The ablation of the unprotected part is up to 4 meters per year, three times faster than the ice loss of the protected part. The scientists stand directly on unprotected parts of the glacier in front of the protected ice shield of Schaufelferner glacier.
. Neustift Im Stubaital, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

Glaciologist Andrea Fischer and environmental physicist Pascal Bohleber from the Austrian Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research, inspect the thickness difference of the part of Schaufelferner glacier that is covered with a special fleece fabric protecting ice from sun and heat and the part that is not covered. The ablation of the unprotected part is up to 4 meters per year, three times faster than the ice loss of the protected part. The scientists stand directly on unprotected parts of the glacier in front of the protected ice shield of Schaufelferner glacier.

Glaciologist Andrea Fischer.
. Neustift Im Stubaital, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

Glaciologist Andrea Fischer.

Glaciologist Andrea Fischer walks along the artificial ice tunnel of Schaufelferner glacier.
. Neustift Im Stubaital, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

Glaciologist Andrea Fischer walks along the artificial ice tunnel of Schaufelferner glacier.

Ice layers are seen inside the artificial ice tunnel of Schaufelferner glacier. Glaciologist Andrea Fischer can determine weather conditions,  the amount of precipitation and ice ablation of past years in these layers.
. Neustift Im Stubaital, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

Ice layers are seen inside the artificial ice tunnel of Schaufelferner glacier. Glaciologist Andrea Fischer can determine weather conditions, the amount of precipitation and ice ablation of past years in these layers.

Glaciologist Andrea Fischer checks a precipitation measuring station next to Jamtalferner glacier.
. Galtuer, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

Glaciologist Andrea Fischer checks a precipitation measuring station next to Jamtalferner glacier.

Werner Aeschbach, head of the ArTTA Atom Trap Trace Analysis working group, wheels a container with ice sample inside, towards a laboratory of the Argon-Preparation-System at the Institute of Environmental Physics in Heidelberg. Atom Trap Trace Analysis for 39Ar is an ultra-sensitive detection method based on principles of quantum mechanics. Scientists extract Argon, a Noble Gas, from the air bubbles trapped in the ice. After the extraction, scientists catch and count the rare Ar39 atoms to determine the age of the air and in result the age of the ice.
. Heidelberg, Germany. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

Werner Aeschbach, head of the ArTTA Atom Trap Trace Analysis working group, wheels a container with ice sample inside, towards a laboratory of the Argon-Preparation-System at the Institute of Environmental Physics in Heidelberg. Atom Trap Trace Analysis for 39Ar is an ultra-sensitive detection method based on principles of quantum mechanics. Scientists extract Argon, a Noble Gas, from the air bubbles trapped in the ice. After the extraction, scientists catch and count the rare Ar39 atoms to determine the age of the air and in result the age of the ice.

An infrared laser, made visible by vapour, is split by a birefringent crystal into one vertical and one horizontal beam, demonstrated with an ArTTA Atom Trap Trace Analysis system currently under construction at the Kirchhoff-Institute for Physics.
. Heidelberg, Germany. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

An infrared laser, made visible by vapour, is split by a birefringent crystal into one vertical and one horizontal beam, demonstrated with an ArTTA Atom Trap Trace Analysis system currently under construction at the Kirchhoff-Institute for Physics.

PhD students of Physics Julian Robertz, Maximilian Schmidt and Lisa Ringena discuss results of the Atom Trap Trace Analysis system at the ArTTA laboratory.
. Heidelberg, Germany. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

PhD students of Physics Julian Robertz, Maximilian Schmidt and Lisa Ringena discuss results of the Atom Trap Trace Analysis system at the ArTTA laboratory.

The cabin of a cable car makes its way uphill to the Sonnblick Observatory at 3,106 meters above sea level, in the Hohe Tauern mountain range.
. Rauris, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

The cabin of a cable car makes its way uphill to the Sonnblick Observatory at 3,106 meters above sea level, in the Hohe Tauern mountain range.

Meteorologist Elke Ludewig from the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics ZAMG, looks up an ice load scale at the Sonnblick Observatory. The ice load scale measures the load of ice starting to freeze on the stick. The ZAMG is operating the instrument to get statistics of the possible ice load at such altitudes.
. Rauris, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

Meteorologist Elke Ludewig from the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics ZAMG, looks up an ice load scale at the Sonnblick Observatory. The ice load scale measures the load of ice starting to freeze on the stick. The ZAMG is operating the instrument to get statistics of the possible ice load at such altitudes.

A halo, an optical phenomena from sunlight and ice crystals, rises above Goldberg group mountains, seen from Sonnblick summit.
. Rauris, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

A halo, an optical phenomena from sunlight and ice crystals, rises above Goldberg group mountains, seen from Sonnblick summit.

The Jamtalferner glacier.
. Galtuer, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

The Jamtalferner glacier.

A group of ski tourers make their way across the snow-covered Jamtalferner glacier near Galtuer.
. Galtuer, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

A group of ski tourers make their way across the snow-covered Jamtalferner glacier near Galtuer.

The Pasterze Glacier, Austria's largest glacier, is seen below Johannisberg summit.
. Heiligenblut, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

The Pasterze Glacier, Austria's largest glacier, is seen below Johannisberg summit.

People walk on Pasterze Glacier.
. Heiligenblut, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

People walk on Pasterze Glacier.

A landslide is seen in the Jamtal valley.
. Galtuer, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

A landslide is seen in the Jamtal valley.

Visitors from Scotland sit on the terrace of the Jamtal hut near Galtuer.
. Galtuer, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

Visitors from Scotland sit on the terrace of the Jamtal hut near Galtuer.

Visitors sit on the terrace of the Jamtal hut.
. Galtuer, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

Visitors sit on the terrace of the Jamtal hut.

The Jamtal hut glows at night in a snow-covered valley.
. Galtuer, Austria. Reuters/Lisi Niesner

The Jamtal hut glows at night in a snow-covered valley.