Vostok Ice Core Data and Its Significance

Vostok Is located in East Antarctica and believed to be one of the coldest places on earth. It is located close to a Russian base, with a good measurement and recording, where it has been observed that the lowest ever documented temperature in the world was recorded there at -89.2 degrees of Celsius (Lipenkov, 2018). The oldest ice core records have been reported close to eight hundred thousand years ago. It is rather probable that carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane gas (CO4) may have had a direct impact on glacial cycles. This would inflate the so-called “small raw”, which would subsequently account for nearly 50% of the rise in temperature experienced during temperature cycles.

 Samples obtained from drilling down the ice core also reveals that carbon dioxide (CO2) plays a smaller role than earlier thought in causing global rise in temperatures across the globe. Even so, cyclical patterns that emerge whenever there are instances of warming and cooling normally influence the climate by increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. Scientists are known to focus more on anthropogenic global warming since they are well are of the threat that human induced global warming has on the planet and its relationship to the coming ice age. Since carbon dioxide (CO2) is a primary driver of global warming, its effects have been felt in the middle troposphere often signaling the onset of the greenhouse effect.

Vostok Ice Core significance stems from the correlation between the Antarctic temperature and atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide. During this transition process, the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations increase significantly to 180 from 280 ppmv (McPherson & Sundquist, 2013). These measurements are critical as they indicate the onset of de-glaciation characterized by an increase of carbon dioxide, which is either phased or lagged in relation to the Antarctic temperatures. In this regard, there is a direct correlation that exists between glacial cycles and an increase in the production of carbon dioxide (CO2), which is controlled by temperature linked to orbital cycles. The Vostok Ice Core therefore affords people a unique opportunity to interpret the finer details present in ice and gas ages. In reality, it makes geological sense to use carbon dioxide (CH4) and methane gas (CO2) as baselines for determining a rise in global temperatures, as opposed to combing through proxy records from across the globe.

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