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Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 QualityTime-ESL1 Glaciology and Global Warming What is the connection?
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Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 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
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Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 QualityTime-ESL3 The Procedure Measurements? Traces of the ancient atmosphere? Answer: the world’s archives A huge refrigerator
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Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 QualityTime-ESL4 Midnight Sun Over Antarctica
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Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 QualityTime-ESL5 Antarctica
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Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 QualityTime-ESL.com6 EPICA European Project of Ice Coring in Antarctica
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Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 QualityTime-ESL7 Drilling for Ice Samples
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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
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Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 QualityTime-ESL9 The Transarctic Mountains
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Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 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!
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Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 QualityTime-ESL11 An Iceberg!
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Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 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
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Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 QualityTime-ESL13 Ice Core Samples
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Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 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…
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Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 QualityTime-ESL15 An Engineering Feat
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Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 QualityTime-ESL.com16 Research Dating of ice Measurements of radioactivity Correlation with identifiable volcanic eruptions in the past By means of marines sediments Analysis Deuterium Ratio 18 O (isotope) to 16 O determines 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, thus climate at different periods… And finally…
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Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 QualityTime-ESL17 Predictions …over the next 100 years: The least catastrophic: + 1.5° C The most catastrophic: up to + 6° C…!
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Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 QualityTime-ESL.com18 Conclusion Over the past century +0.7°C Up to +21°C by 3000 Measures to limit production of harmful greenhouse gases Responsibility of both governments and citizens Kyoto Protocol of 1997: a first step Only way to save our planet for the generations to come!
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Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 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
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Marianne Raynaud Copyright 2005 QualityTime-ESL20 Thank you for your attention!
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