Alpine Ice Core Unlocks 2,000-Year Record of Fires, Mining and Volcanoes

An ice core extracted from an Alpine glacier has provided scientists with a detailed climate record stretching back 2,000 years. The frozen archive contains evidence of early metal smelting, widespread forest fires, and volcanic ash deposited from distant eruptions. Researchers say the core offers a rare window into European air quality long before modern industrial pollution began. However, accelerating glacier retreat is putting such climate records at risk of being lost permanently. Scientists are now working urgently to extract and preserve these ice cores before they disappear.