Memories Sculpted in Ice

I don't remember exactly when the world started talking about Global Warming, but slowly it became one of the most popular subjects. Discussed mostly at high levels, it seemed to belong rather to the political and economic world, away from my daily life. I wasn't worried about it until I opened the freezer one morning. I realized with terror that the ice began to melt. Watching the water drops falling, I realized that the phenomenon reached so close to me that I couldn't ignore it anymore.

In 1997, politicians and scientists came together at Kyoto to debate the causes and effects of Global Warming. The meeting reached the conclusion that the emission of carbon dioxide must be limited, to prevent a disaster. The conclusion was based on theoretical computer models that predicted what would happen if the carbon dioxide emission doubled itself: the ocean levels will increase, the desert zones will extend.

But not all climatologists agree with this scenario. A team led by Ian Peter Stefanson looked for evidence about past climate in the ice of Greenland. Blocks of ice three kilometers deep are brought to the surface. They contain the fingerprints of the climatic conditions several thousands years ago. With their instruments, the scientists were able to identify the ice temperature (down to the thousandth degree) along those three kilometers.

The ice didn't forget how cold it was when the snow started to fall. It told the story of natural fluctuations in temperature in a time when the human hand didn't have any influence.

In the period between four thousand and two thousand years ago (the time of the Roman Empire), the temperature started to decrease by increments of 2.5 degrees. Then, the temperature started increasing until a maximum point in the Medieval period (approximately a thousand years ago). The temperature started decreasing again until around the year 1600, then increasing again around 1800.

The coldest point in the last several thousand years is registered in 1875. This is the time when the meteorological measurements started to be recorded. These measurements show that the temperature has grown constantly to this day. The growth is associated with industrialization. But during the Great Depression, the carbon dioxide emission dropped overnight by 30 percent, a figure that is not reflected in the continuing temperature increase along the century.

All scientists agree: The Earth gets warmer. But the

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