Antarctica: record drilling in the Ross Sea to reveal the future of the climate

The objective: to monitor the +2°C threshold

The focus of the research lies in understanding the vulnerability of the Ross Shelf (the largest mass of floating ice in the world) and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). Scientists mean determine whether an increase in global average temperature of +2°C compared to the pre-industrial era could trigger irreversible melting.

The stability of the WAIS is strictly dependent on the stability of the Ross Platform: its failure would cause a chain melting of the continental ice cap, with a potential rise in global sea levels estimated at between 4 and 5 metres.

Below is the animation of the operation

The role of Italian research

Italy plays a leading role in the project through a network of academic and institutional excellence. THE’National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) leads national governance, collaborating with theNational Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (OGS) and the Universities of Siena, Trieste and Genoa.

“The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) is at the forefront in the governance of SWAIS2C as regards Italy“, clarifies the President of INGV Fabio Florindo. “Furthermore, staff from the Institute participate in the scientific part of the study of the ice core recovered from the Crary Ice Rise by making their skills in chronostratigraphy, volcanology, petrology and paleomagnetism available to the team of over 120 scientists“.

Towards the definition of the “Point of no return”

The project, funded by the International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP), aims to provide direct geological evidence of the so-called tipping point. The study of ice cores and extracted sediments will allow us to reconstruct the climatic variations of the remote past, offering fundamental data for developing projections on the future evolution of our planet. The ability to identify the moment in which melting becomes irreversible represents one of the most urgent scientific challenges for the protection of global coastal zones today..