The climate crisis What we are experiencing is not only threatening to redesign world maps with sea level risebut it is also erasing traces of the planet’s history. After confirming that 2025 was the third warmest year in historythe scientific community has completed a critical mission: inaugurate the Ice Memory Sanctuary in Antarcticaan underground library designed to preserve ice from mountain glaciers before they melt permanently.
A real bunker. Today we have on the planet a seed bank to prepare ourselves in case there is a global catastrophe, and also data servers. And now we also have a large bench for ice, which logically requires extreme thermal stability.
This sanctuary, which can be considered an authentic glacier cemetery, has been promoted by the Ice Memory Foundation and led by institutions such as the French CNRS and the Italian CNR. The location chosen could not be other than the Antarctic plateau itself, specifically the Concordia station.
What is stored. Inside there is not simply “ice, but we find what scientists called “ice witnesses”. For science there is a fairly clear difference, since these glaciers are authentic hard drives that contain the thermal chemical history of our planet. And unfortunately it was being lost due to rising temperatures.
With these ice cylinders it is possible to analyze the air that existed thousands of years ago or even at analyze the hydrogen and oxygen isotopes inside calculate the exact temperature it was in the past. Something that allows us to reconstruct global temperature graphs with a precision that tree rings or marine sediments do not always achieve.
A disaster record. Bonus, this ice also acts as a filter that traps anything floating in the air. That is why we have already seen, for example, cvolcanic sand or dust from the Sahara which allows studying historical eruptions or the cycle of wind movement.
Although technology logically has limitations, and in the future it is quite likely that these technological means will increase considerably. That is why the real objective is to leave this ice for the scientists of the future who will surely have many tools to continue extracting information from these blocks of ice that we cannot do today.
Engineering behind the cold. Logically, ice cannot be at unstable temperatures, so the location at the Franco-Italian Concordia station is not a conventional building. It is a cave excavated directly under the snow, taking advantage of the extreme conditions of the white continent. Something that allows you to maintain a stable temperature at -50ºCwhich is also essential for storing the genetic material that may be inside.
But unlike freezers in European laboratories, this sanctuary does not depend on the electrical grid or motors. If there is a blackout or energy crisis, the ice remains intact. That is why its design is perfect to last for centuries.
There are already tenants. This sanctuary already has several members in its exhibition. Two ice cores have already been found that come from the Alps, specifically, one Col du Dôme block drilled in 2016 and from Gran Combin (Switzerland) extracted in 2025.
Logically, the problem is in logistical transportation from Europe (or any location) to Antarctica. The samples traveled for 50 days on the research icebreaker Italian Laura Bassi from Trieste to Antarctica, completing the last leg by plane to the Concordia base. Something that logically is not easy at all.
What’s next now. The Ice Memory Foundation plans to continue rescuing samples from at-risk glaciers in the Andes, Himalayas and Pamirs. The Concordia sanctuary is ready to receive the legacy of a world that, year after year, breaks temperature records and this is what has caused this project to move so rapidly today in order not to lose more glaciers that are melting.
Images | Cassie Matias
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