Air bubbles in an ice core from the Antarctic: the ice is up to 24’000 years old. Image: Bernhard Bereiter / Scripps Institution of Oceanography / Empa / University of Bern
The average sea temperature is an essential parameter of the global climate - but it is very difficult to measure. At least until now, because an international team of researchers including University of Bern scientists have now developed a novel method using the concentration of noble gases in the eternal ice. This allows conclusions to be drawn on the changes in sea temperature from the last ice age to the present day. The oceans are the largest global heat reservoir. As a result of man-made global warming, the temperature in the global climate system increases; around 90 percent of the extra heat is absorbed by the oceans. This means that the average sea temperature can tell us a lot about the state of our climate, both today and in the past. However, it is difficult to determine an accurate average value across all sea depths and regions of the world.
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