The Ice Memory Foundation on Wednesday opened the world’s first sanctuary for mountain ice cores in Antarctica, aiming to preserve crucial records of Earth’s climate for centuries.
Scientists have begun preserving invaluable records of Earth’s climate history in an ice sanctuary in Antarctica. The sancturay is designed to protect ice cores from glaciers that are rapidly disappearing due to global warming.
The first samples, taken from two glaciers in the Alps, have been stored at Concordia Station, a French-Italian research base located 3,200 metres above sea level.
Buried about nine metres beneath the snow, the purpose-built cave maintains a constant temperature of -52°C, allowing the ice to be preserved naturally without artificial refrigeration.
"We are the last generation who can act," said Anne-Catherine Ohlmann, Director of the Ice Memory Foundation. "It’s a responsibility we all share. Saving these ice archives is not only a scientific responsibility - it is a legacy for humanity."
With a temperature of -33°C outside the cave, scientists officially inaugurated the Ice Memory Sanctuary on Wednesday, cutting a blue ribbon as the final boxes containing core samples from the Alps glaciers were stored in the ice cave.
After a journey of more than fifty days aboard the icebreaker RV Laura Bassi that began in Trieste (Italy), the ice cores extracted from the Mont Blanc (Col du Dôme, France, 2016) and Grand Combin (Switzerland, 2025) arrived at the Concordia Station in early December.
Ice memory archive project to commence in Mont Blanc massif
The Ice Memory project was conceived after scientists noticed a sharp rise in temperature on several glaciers. It was launched in 2015 by CNRS, IRD, the University of Grenoble-Alpes (France), CNR, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy) and the Paul Scherrer Institute (Switzerland).
French scientists probe deep into Antarctica for clues on climate change
-52°C in the cave
The Ice Memory Sanctuary - 35 metres long and 5 metres high and wide - is dug entirely into the compact snow layers about 5 metres below the surface, for a total of 9 metres depth.
The cores are stored at a stable temperature of - 52°C, without energy use required for refrigeration, minimising risks from technical or human failures.
Its stability is ensured by the extreme and naturally constant Antarctic temperatures, which remain close to -52°C year-round.
The natural and low-impact ice cave was approved by the Antarctic Treaty System in 2024, and was funded by the Prince Albert II Foundation, a historic philanthropic partner of the Ice Memory Foundation.
Where will we store the ice cores?
'Past climate conditions'
Since 2000, glaciers have lost between two percent and 39 percent of their ice regionally and about five percent globally, according to a report published in Nature in 2025.
"By safeguarding physical samples of atmospheric gases, aerosols, pollutants and dust trapped in ice layers, the Ice Memory Foundation ensures that future generations of researchers will be able to study past climate conditions using technologies that may not yet exist," explained Carlo Barbante, vice chair of the Ice Memory Foundation and Professor at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.
Scientists hope million-year-old Antarctic ice will reveal climate secrets
International governance
Dozens of additional ice cores from glaciers worldwide - Andes, Pamir, Caucasus, Svalbard etc. - are expected to join the Ice Memory archive in the next coming years.
An international governance framework will be established over the next decade to ensure "transparent, ethical, and equitable scientific access for future generations".
On Wednesday, European climate monitors and US confirmed that 2025 was the third hottest year on record, pushing the planet closer to a key warming limit.
"We are in a race against time to rescue this heritage before it will vanish forever," said Barbante.
