In Antarctica, in the remote field of Little Dome C, the second drilling campaign under the Beyond EPICA - Oldest Ice project has been successfully concluded with an unprecedented challenge for paleoclimatology studies. The goal is to go back in time a million and a half years, to discover the temperatures and concentration of greenhouse gases of the past, through the analysis of an ice core extracted from the ice sheet. The project, which was funded by the European Commission with 11 million euros and significant contributions from the participating nations, covers a period of seven years (starting from 2019) and is coordinated by Carlo Barbante, Director of the Institute of Polar Sciences of the National Research Council (CNR-ISP) and professor at Ca' Foscari University Venice. Twelve partner research centers from ten European and non-European countries take part in the project. For Italy, in addition to the CNR and the Ca' Foscari University, the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) also participates and is in charge, together with the French Polar Institute (IPEV), of the work module related to logistics. The activities of the Beyond EPICA - Oldest Ice project benefit from the synergy with those carried out within the PNRA, the National Antarctic Research Program, funded by the Ministry of University and Research (MUR), coordinated by the CNR for scientific activities and by ENEA for the operational implementation of expeditions.
|