Ice Memory Foundation
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We must act today to create a global ice archive and preserve environmental and climate memory. Three ice cores were drilled down to bedrock on August 2016.
CLIMATE MEMORY IN DANGER
Understanding past climate helps us anticipate future change. The ice in glaciers, either from mountains, small ice caps or large ice sheets, holds the memory of the region’s climate and environment. Driven by intuition and great determination, Claude Lorius and his team from two French research laboratories, together with Soviet scientists, published in 1987 the first observed link between CO2 and temperatures during the last 160,000 years, using air bubbles trapped in the ice. They were to reveal the strong role played by carbon dioxide in natural climate variability. This largely conributed, together with the observation of rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere since the 50s (Charles Keeling's pioneering work) and with the first simulations from climate models, to warn the world about global warming. Glaciologists from CNRS, IRD and the Université Grenoble Alpes, as well as their colleagues around the world, work to reconstruct this history of past climate and environmental condiitons. Their work has already led to innovative changes in how we perceive the Earth and human activity. However, deciphering our history will take decades and humanity cannot afford to lose such vital information. In addition, future scientific ideas and technologies may lead to major findings from ice cores beyond the field of climate and environmental research. ACT BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE
High-altitude mountain glaciers as well as small ice caps in the Arctic and sub-Antarctic islands are retreating unrelentingly due to global warming, putting this priceless scientific heritage in danger. It could simply disappear in the next decades to centuries for many of them. Having made a pivotal contribution to climate science and playing a crucial role to anticipate the future of mankind, ice core science will soon run out of high-quality raw material collected from mountain regions and small ice caps. This is why one must create an archive now for future generations, so that scientists in decades and centuries to come could conduct unprecedented analyses made possible by the emergence of new techniques and new ideas. A SCIENTIFIC AND HUMAN ADVENTURE OF GLOBAL IMPORTANCE
Our goal is to create a sanctuary for ice cores in Antarctica, a continent devoted to science and peace. As the only international research station, Concordia Station, located in the middle of the Antarctic plateau at more than 3200 m of altitude, is the most reliable – and natural – freezer in the world (mean annual temperature of minus 54 degrees Celsius). The French Paul-Emile Victor Polar Institute and its Italian partner PNRA will store hundreds of ice core samples from all over the world for centuries at -50°C in a snow cave. Other caves may be created as well by American, Russian and Chinese scientists and logistic agencies, using their own research stations on the Antarctic plateau. All the samples, wherever the Antarctic research station of storage, will be the property of humanity, while sustainable governance under the authority of IPICS (International Partnerships in Ice Core Sciences) and UNESCO will ensure their preservation as well as their exceptional and appropriate use. UNESCO has already approved the project in the frame of its International Hydrology Programme. The French and Italian commissions at UNESCO have endorsed the first Ice Memory international workshop handled in Paris on March 2017. The first drilling operations have successfully taken place in 2016 and 2017. The French-Italian team has focused first on a glacier located in the French Alps (col du Dôme) with proven scientific potential. The second drilling ended in June 2017 with two ice cores drilled down to bedrock on the Illimani glacier in Bolivia (6300 m of altitude). For each glacier, one ice core will be analysed to provide a detailed reference and the other one or two ice cores will be transported and stored in Antarctica for long-term archiving. This all-new adventure, launched by the glaciology laboratories of the Université Grenoble Alpes, the CNRS, the IRD, the Italian CNR and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, is in need of both academic and private partners. A number of key scientific bodies such as the IPEV and the PNRA (providing Antarctic logistical means) have already joined the project. Oscar-winning French film director Luc Jacquet and his team from Wild-Touch will be producing and distributing images, videos, a TV documentary and possibly a book following on their film Ice & Sky.
🧊 Ten years ago, we didn’t know if it would be possible.
August 2016. Col du Dôme, Mont Blanc.
For eleven days, the international team of glaciologists and engineers - coordinated by IGE (Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD) France, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia and CNR Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy - climbed Col du Dôme in the Alps, with an idea: preserve the memory held in disappearing glaciers for scientists of the future.
🟢 3 ice cores ;
🟢 Up to 129 metres of ice ;
🟢 More than 200 years of climate and environmental history.
And suddenly, the idea became real!
Ten years later, more than 10 expeditions have been carried out around the world, with scientists and international teams joining us on other mountains, other glaciers, to preserve more archives of our planet’s memory.
This story is far from over, a new decade has begun — the UN Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences — and our journey continues. Our race against time continues.
There is still so much ice memory to preserve.
Ten years after Col du Dôme, one thing hasn’t changed, we won’t give up! 💪
🎥 Look back at the very first Ice Memory expedition.
30/06/2026
🧊 What can ice cores tell us — and why does it matter?
Glaciers are like frozen history books. Layer after layer, they store tiny traces of our planet's past:
🌨️ snowfall & precipitations
🌡️ temperatures
💨 aerosols
🌋 volcanic eruptions
Scientists also find unexpected clues hidden in the ice:
🫧 Ancient air bubbles containing greenhouse gases like:
🌍 carbon dioxide (CO₂)
🔥 methane (CH₄)
or aerosols like:
☢️ Radioactive traces from nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s and 1960s
🏭 Pollution left behind by human activities, lead from gasoline, mercury from mining and industry, industrial chemicals such as CFCs that damaged the ozone layer
With these crucial tracers, ice core science has provided unique evidence of how human activities leave lasting fingerprints in the environment.
By preserving a record of atmospheric change over decades to millennia, ice cores help scientists understand past impacts and monitor the effectiveness of environmental policies.
They provided scientific evidence and on-going monitoring to inform policy makers for their major international actions.
Access these tracers might be crucial to be sure the conventions are still implemented by countries:
🤝 the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963), by documenting the global spread and subsequent decline of radioactive fallout
🌎 the Montreal Protocol (1987), by helping track changes in atmospheric chemistry related to ozone-depleting substances
☣️ the Minamata Convention on Mercury (2013), through long-term records of mercury deposition in the environment
🌡️ international climate agreements from Kyoto to Paris, by revealing the long-term relationship between greenhouse gases and climate change
In short, ice cores tell us where we've been—and they help societies measure where we are, assess whether policies are working, and make more informed decisions about where to go next.
16/06/2026
🚢 Welcome back, Laura Bassi!
After months at sea and an extraordinary journey across oceans and Antarctica, the Italian icebreaker Laura Bassi has returned home few days ago to Trieste.
🇦🇶 The Laura Bassi is much more than a ship. She is a floating laboratory, a logistical lifeline for Antarctic stations, and a key asset for polar research. Built to navigate through ice-covered seas, she enables scientists to explore some of the least accessible regions of our planet and helps support major international research efforts in Antarctica.
This season, among her scientific equipment and logistical supplies, she carried a particularly precious cargo: Ice Memory ice cores, travelling thousands of kilometres from European glaciers to Antarctica, where they are now safely preserved in the world's first Ice Memory Sanctuary. ❄️
A huge thank you to the teams of OGS, ENEA, , the crew, technicians and logistics specialists who took such great care of these invaluable climate archives throughout their long journey south.
🧊 Thanks to you, a precious archive is now safely preserved for future generations.
As Laura Bassi returns to Trieste, we are already looking ahead, because many glacier archives are still waiting to be saved.
And we hope the next Ice Memory shipment will set sail very soon!
26/05/2026
🧊 Do you know exactly how ice shapes this very long-term history that we’re trying to preserve?
It all starts with snow.
In very cold places, snow that falls in winter doesn’t completely melt in summer. Year after year, new snow covers older snow.
Slowly, under the weight of all these layers, the snow is compressed and becomes firn, that becomes glacier ice.
Little by little, the glacier turns into a giant frozen archive — like a history book written layer after layer.
And each layer keeps tiny clues about the world at the moment it formed.
Scientists can find:
🌫️ dust from deserts and storms ;
🌋 ash from volcanic eruptions ;
🏭 traces of pollution from human activity ;
🫧 tiny bubbles of ancient air containing greenhouse gases.
But one of the most important clues is hidden inside the water itself.
💧 Water molecules are not all exactly the same.
Some are slightly “heavier” than others. These tiny differences — called water isotopes — change depending on temperature and weather conditions.
By measuring them, scientists can estimate how warm or cold the climate was, how much snow was falling and even how air masses traveled through the atmosphere long ago.
☁️ As snow turns into ice, tiny bubbles of air also become trapped inside.
These bubbles are real samples of ancient atmospheres — sometimes hundreds or even thousands of years old.
At some polar sites, ice cores allow scientists to travel back more than 800,000 years into Earth’s climate history.
🔬 That’s why preserving glaciers today also means preserving knowledge for tomorrow.
12/05/2026
👏👏👏 A well-deserved recognition for Thomas F. Stocker!
Congratulations to the president of our Foundation, who has just been awarded the 2026 Alfred Wegener Medal and the title of honorary member by the European Geosciences Union - EGU. 💎🏆🎊
The EGU distinction recognizes a scientist whose career exemplifies the union of visionary research, technical innovation and interdisciplinary service to the global community.
🌫️ For decades, he has been a central figure in advancing our understanding of the coupling between greenhouse gases and global temperatures over geological timescales.
By combining meticulous analysis of polar ice cores with pioneering Earth system modelling, he helped reveal the intimate links between atmospheric CO₂, methane and climate variability over the past 800,000 years.
His work has not only deepened our understanding of past climate dynamics, but also strengthened the scientific foundations for assessing future risks — from changes in the hydrological cycle to large-scale ocean circulation.
🤝 Beyond science, Thomas F. Stocker has always been committed to mentoring early-career researchers and bridging the gap between fundamental research and decision-making.
Since 2025, he has brought this same vision, rigor, and generosity to Ice Memory — guiding our scientific mission and reinforcing our commitment to safeguarding climate archives for future generations.
Congratulations, Thomas — and thank you for your leadership, your inspiration, and your dedication to science in service of society. 🌍❄️
Find out more about our President’s fascinating career 👇
https://www.egu.eu/awards-medals/alfred-wegener/2026/thomas-f-stocker/
Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern / Université Grenoble Alpes / CNRS / IRD / CNR Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche / Università Ca' Foscari Venezia / Fondation Université Grenoble Alpes / EGU / Fondation Didier et Martine Primat / Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco
Beyond EPICA - Oldest Ice
19/03/2026
🙏🇨🇭🇫🇷 🇹🇯 Yesterday, we had a great chance to share our next challenges within the in Paris.
Honored to see the Ice Memory initiative receive such strong recognition and support at UNESCO, with high-level delegates from Switzerland, France, Tajikistan, Italy, and a unique attention from China, Pakistan, Australia, Argentina, and Peru contributing to this important dialogue.
We are especially grateful for the leadership behind the UN Decade for the Cryosphere, and for the unwavering support from France and Tajikistan, whose commitment to the Ice Memory project has been truly instrumental.
This side event, which took place at the residence of the ambassador of the Swiss delegation to UNESCO, would not have been possible without the exemplary dedication of the Ambassador of the Swiss Delegation to UNESCO, Mr. Benedikt Wechsler. His leadership and engagement have been key in advancing this collective call to action as to:
✅ complete the 10 remaining glaciers drilling operations ;
✅ store all 20 heritage Ice Memory cores in Antarctica in one of the Ice Memory sanctuaries ;
✅ establish an appropriate legal statute for the Ice Memory heritage ;
✅ define long-term governance system under the auspices of an appropriate organisation, such as for example UNESCO.
Together, we are safeguarding invaluable ice archives for future generations and reinforcing international collaboration.
📷 More photos here :
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1MmUSw4_JRip5DAqWarFSV94M6PeH_uWj
🙌 We are grateful for your great support:
Mr. Benedikt Wechsler Permanent Delegate of Switzerland to UNESCO and Francophonie
Ms. Lidia Brito, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, UNESCO
Mr. Olivier Poivre d'Arvor, French Ambassador for the pôles and oceans
🙏 All our gratitude to Permanent Delegates to UNESCO:
H.E. Ahlem Gharbi, Ambassador, Permanent Delegation of the French Republic to UNESCO
H.E. Dilshod Kamolzoda Rahimi, Ambassador & Permanent Delegate of
H.E. Ms Xinyu Yang, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of the
H.E Liborio Stellino, Permanent Delegate of ı Giulio del Federico
H.E. Jean-François Tremblay, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of Permanent Delegation of Canada to the OECD | Délégation permanente du Canada auprès de l'OCDE
H.E. Rafael Daló, Permanent Delegate of Argentina
H.E. Carlos Andrés Miguel HERRERA RODRIGUEZ. Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of
H.E Greer Alblas, Permanent Delegate of
H.E. Carlos Andrés Miguel Herrera Rodriguez, Permanent Delegate of
Anil Mishra ı Sara Manuelli ı Thomas F. Stocker ı Jérôme Chappellaz ı Jérôme Fort ı Carlo Barbante ı Anne-Catherine Ohlmann ı Dominique Marzolf
📷 © Elodie Bernollin
📣 Today, the Ice Memory Foundation activates strongly its advocacy activities within the .
We call on all Nations, as well as on UNESCO, to establish during the Decade:
🟢 An appropriate legal statute for the Ice Memory heritage we just started to store in Antarctica.
🟢 A long-term governance system under the auspices of an appropriate organisation such as, for example, UNESCO
Let’s play the video and deep dive into our next great challenges. 👇
💪 Challenges that will require the full commitment of the international community within the UN Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences.
Olivier Poivre d'Arvor, Ambassadeur pour les pôles et les océans, Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères
Bénédict de Cerjat, Swiss Ambassador, Délégation suisse auprès de l’UNESCO et de la Francophonie (OIF)
H.E. Amb. Ahlem Gharbi, Ambassador, Permanent Delegation of the French Republic to UNESCO
Ms Lidia Brito, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, UNESCO
Ms. Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization
Anil Mishra / Sara Manuelli / Thomas F. Stocker /Jérôme Chappellaz / Jérôme Fort / Carlo Barbante / Anne-Catherine Ohlmann
CNRS ı IRD ı Université Grenoble Alpes ı Università Ca' Foscari Venezia ı CNR Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche ı OGS - Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale ı Institut polaire français Paul-Émile Victor ı ENEA - Agenzia nazionale
Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco Fondation Didier et Martine Primat
12/03/2026
🇺🇳 Join Ice Memory at UNESCO
A world first: preserving the legacy of mountain glaciers in Antarctica
📅 19 March 2026
⏰ 16:00–17:30 (CET)
📍 Room IX, UNESCO Headquarters
As part of the UN Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences (2025–2034), Ice Memory Foundation is hosting an official side event at UNESCO.
From glacier drilling in the Pamir (2025) to the opening of the first Ice Memory Sanctuary at Concordia Station, Antarctica — this session will explore how we are safeguarding climate archives for centuries to come and the next challenges for this next decade.
Because once glaciers disappear, their memory must not.
🎙 Speakers:
🟢 H.E. Amb. Ahlem Gharbi, Ambassador, Permanent Delegation of the French Republic to UNESCO
🟢 Thomas F. Stocker, Geoscientist & Climate Physicist, Chair of the Ice Memory Foundation, Universität Bern, Switzerland
🟢 Jérôme Fort, Marine Ecologist & Ecotoxicologist, Vice Chair of the Ice Memory Foundation, Research Director, CNRS, France
🟢 Evan Miles, Pamir ice coring expedition leader, Université de Fribourg - Universität Freiburg & Universität Zürich
🟢 Anne-Catherine Ohlmann, Director of the Ice Memory Foundation, France
🟢 Riccardo Scipinotti, Concordia Station Leader, ENEA - Agenzia nazionale, Italy
Register here 👇
In-person: https://indico.un.org/event/1021411/registrations/25199/
🖥️ Online: https://unesco-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_N2YLk7s0TIGC5POvkQRk9A #/registration
Universität Bern CNRS ENEA - Agenzia nazionale
08/03/2026
👩🔬 Why are there still so few women in science?
Because science has never been the preserve of just one half of humanity, we are taking this opportunity today to highlight some exceptional women who specialize in the study of glaciers or in ice core science and some who are participating in the Ice Memory adventure!
Even though research continues to dismantle persistent myths, these are so rare and “there is currently no biological data showing that men are more competent than women in mathematics,” as chemist Clotilde Policar reminds us.
So where does this gap come from? 🧐
Part of the answer lies in what psychologists call “stereotype threat”: when individuals belong to a stereotyped group, they may internalize expectations of failure and unconsciously act accordingly.
Another factor is cultural. For a long time, science has operated according to what Policar describes as “a kind of implicit uniform imposed by male researchers.” A standard for how a scientist should look.
🏫 And this gap often starts very early. The school environment can unintentionally reinforce gender bias, creating an artificial division between girls and boys, a division that, above all, can also be changed.
Long before the word glaciology became common, pioneering women were already exploring the frozen world:
🗻 F***y Bullock Workman, mountaineer and explorer who conducted some of the earliest glacier studies in the Himalayas.
⛏️ Louise Boyd, Arctic explorer who led multiple scientific expeditions in the early 20th century.
🧊 Mary Vaux Walcott, naturalist and photographer who documented glaciers and alpine ecosystems with remarkable precision.
Their work helped shape our understanding of the cryosphere.
Today, countless women continue to advance polar science, climate research, and glaciology around the world!
😉 Because preserving Earth’s memory — in ice or elsewhere — requires all talents, all perspectives, and all voices.
20/02/2026
🚀 And now, how will the Ice Memory journey continue?
🧊 4/4 The next ice cores to be transferred to the Antarctic sanctuary
The first two Alpine ice cores are now safely stored in Antarctica.
But was never meant to stop at two!
Over the past 10 years, we have drilled several glaciers worldwide and ice cores — currently preserved in Europe and beyond — are expected to join the Sanctuary at .
📦 Some are stored in Grenoble (Université Grenoble Alpes) and Venice (Università Ca' Foscari Venezia), some are still on their way... (Do you remember the expedition last October? Swiss Polar Institute 🙃)
We have to progressively transfer these irreplaceable archives to Antarctica — either via Mario Zucchelli Station or Dumont d’Urville — with the crucial logistical support of our Italian and French partners.
But moving ice cores across continents requires more than logistics. It requires strong, collective will and sustained financial support.
📣 The Ice Memory Sanctuary is open to scientific teams worldwide wishing to contribute a heritage ice core — provided it meets the Ice Memory protocol criteria.
We also consider already-drilled ice cores, if they fulfill the scientific and preservation standards required. In some cases, the Foundation can help support drilling operations and logistics. 🙌
Selected glaciers must:
✅ demonstrate urgency for preservation while ensuring high-quality climate records;
✅ provide significant and recognized scientific results on atmospheric composition and past environmental conditions ;
✅ contribute to optimal geographical and temporal coverage worldwide.
Ice cores must originate from sites capable of delivering robust, long-term environmental information.
Ice Memory sanctuary is not a storage facility. It is a scientific heritage initiative with strict criteria — because what we preserve must truly serve future generations.
The Sanctuary is open.
The work and the race continue.
We are the last generation who can act 💪
🙏 We keep on:
Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD) CNRS Università Ca' Foscari Venezia CNR Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Institute of Polar Sciences of the Italian National Research Council Université Grenoble Alpes ENEA - Agenzia nazionale Institut polaire français Paul-Émile Victor OGS - Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale Fondation Université Grenoble Alpes
🙏🙏 Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco Fondation Didier et Martine Primat
World Meteorological Organization UNESCO Lidia Brito Celeste Saulo Antoine Petit Andrea Lenzi
Thomas F. Stocker Jérôme Chappellaz Carlo Barbante Jérôme Fort Anne-Catherine Ohlmann
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