A novel sanctuary in Antarctica is preserving ice samples from rapidly melting glaciers
This undated image released on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026 by the Ice Memory Foundation, shows the Concordia Station, where the Ice Memory Sanctuary is being built in Antarctica for ice cores from the Alps carrying the memory of Earth's current atmosphere, which are preserved at a temperature close to -52°C/-61°F for future generations of scientists to study. (ENEA PNRA via AP) 2026-01-14T13:47:06Z…
Scientists in Antarctica inaugurated the world's inaugural sanctuary dedicated to preserving ice cores from rapidly melting glaciers on Wednesday, January 14, 2026. The Ice Memory Foundation, a coalition of European research institutions, unveiled the frozen repository at the Concordia station on the Antarctic Plateau. The inauguration ceremony featured a livestreamed ribbon-cutting and the opening of the cold, dark cave where the ice samples would be stored for future study.
The foundation transported the first two sets of Alpine mountain ice cores from Mont Blanc in France and Grand Combin in Switzerland to the station via a refrigerated icebreaker and plane journey from Trieste, Italy, which took 50 days. Pairs of foundation representatives carried boxes of the ice cores into the cave, which is dug into a 5-meter-high compacted snow drift and maintained at a constant temperature of approximately -52°C/-61°F.
The sanctuary serves as a frozen time capsule, preserving the Earth's atmospheric history in its frozen climate archive for future generations of scientists to study as glaciers continue to melt at an alarming rate due to global warming.
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