– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

Now, the last and oldest sections of the

ice cores brought back from Antarctica

are being melted for analysis at the

British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge.

Once all of the results are collected,

it will give scientists a continuous

environmental record going back more

than 1 and a half million years. Our

science editor, Ma Rebecca Morurell, is

there for us now. Um, hello to you,

Rebecca. This is fascinating stuff. just

tell us what this old ice can can tell

us about about the world.

>> Yeah, I mean it has been a hive of

activity here this morning and for the

last 6 weeks cuz scientists here have

been working around the clock to study

some of the most precious samples

collected from Antarctica and it all

starts here in the freezer. So, we're

going to go in. It's minus 23°. So,

we're not going to go in for too long

because all of our kit stops working,

which makes it a bit more exciting. Um,

so this room was packed full of boxes.

Now there is only a few left and they've

saved the best till last because these

are some of the oldest ice cores that

have ever been collected. One of them is

being prepped right over here by Maddie

at the moment. It is very clear and this

is about to be melted. So we're going to

go back outside into the warm. I will

make sure that we close the door behind

us cuz we don't want it melting too

soon. And I will take you over. That's

nice and closed over to mission control

which is essentially these screens here

because all of the time that the ice is

being melted it's being constantly

monitored by the scientists here. Now

I'm joined by Dr. Liz Thomas who's head

of the ice core team here. Just tell us

how precious these samples are. Where

where were they collected from? First of

all, these are really valuable pieces of

ice that we're currently melting and

they come from a core that was drilled

in East Antarctica over many seasons.

It's part of a big international

collaboration funded by the EU. And the

reason we're so excited about it is

because we hope it's going to be the

longest ever continuous ice core

spreading back at least 1.2 million

years, maybe a bit older. And that core

came from 2.8 km down. I must just show

you this actually, the freezer door

where you can see the point where they

hit 1.2 million years, but it might be

even older. Maybe 1.3, 1.4, maybe 1.5.

Now, let me take you over to here

because as the ice is melted, the liquid

feeds through here into this raft of

scientific equipment. There's even a

little gizmo here which is collecting

the bubbles, the air trapped inside,

which is potentially over a million

years old. Now, Liz, the ice looks so

clear, but there's a lot of stuff in

there that you're studying, isn't there?

>> It does. It looks exceptionally clear,

and it's very beautiful, in fact. But

that is quite deceiving because inside

there we know from using all of these

instruments that there is a huge amount

of information about our planet. So

about the climate and how the

environment has changed. And what we're

doing is measuring that further back in

time to be able to reconstruct what's

been happening beyond a million years

ago.

>> And up to now you've only had ice that's

800,000 years old. So this pushes it

back way further. I mean why is it

important to look back? Is it all about

looking forward? I suppose

>> ultimately yes. So our longest previous

ice score, the epica dome sea iceore

went back 800,000 years and it was a

hugely iconic record because it was able

to really place the current increase in

carbon dioxide in this longerterm

context and show that it's outside of

the range of natural variability. What

we're doing now is we're starting to

look even further back in time to an

important period in our climate history

when we believe that the ice sheets were

smaller than they are today. Sea levels

were higher and we think it may have

been that the carbon dioxide in our

atmosphere was actually higher. This

makes it a really interesting analog for

how our climate is currently evolving

and how it may look in the future.

>> It's all about trying to find out what

happens next. And the only way you can

do that is to look back. Exactly, Liz.

Thank you very much. We we're going to

let the scientists get on with their

work here because they've got this is

their last day of melting. So after

that, the ice is gone. And it's still

mind-blowing to me that you've spent,

you know, years collecting the stuff,

hundreds of scientists working on it.

And then essentially to study it, you

have to destroy it really. But there are

still going to be months, even years

worth of research to continue after the

ice has turned to liquid. But yeah,

really important stuff going on in this

freezer here.

>> Rebecca, absolutely fascinating.

Mind-blowing is absolutely the word. Uh,

thank you for the moment.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
ice /aɪs/ A1	noun - frozen water
core /kɔːr/ A2	noun - the central part of something
analysis /əˈnæləsɪs/ B1	noun - detailed examination of something
scientist /ˈsaɪəntɪst/ A2	noun - a person who studies science
record /ˈrɛkɔːrd/ A2	noun - a thing on which information is stored verb - to make a note of something
sample /ˈsæmpəl/ B1	noun - a small part representative of the whole
freezer /ˈfriːzər/ A2	noun - a device for freezing food
old /əʊld/ A1	adjective - having lived or existed for a long time
precious /ˈprɛʃəs/ B1	adjective - valuable
melt /mɛlt/ A2	verb - to become liquid from heat
collect /kəˈlɛkt/ A1	verb - to gather things together
study /ˈstʌdi/ A1	verb - to learn about a subject noun - the act of studying
clear /klɪər/ A2	adjective - easy to understand
climate /ˈklaɪmət/ B1	noun - the weather conditions of an area
environment /ɪnˈvaɪərənmənt/ B1	noun - the surroundings in which something exists
change /tʃeɪndʒ/ A1	verb - to make or become different noun - the process of becoming different
reconstruct /ˌriːkənˈstrʌkt/ C1	verb - to build or form again
important /ɪmˈpɔːrtənt/ A1	adjective - of great significance