CMC Sustainability Students Visit National Ice Core Lab

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Eric Filley stands among thousands of ice core samples from Greenland and Antarctica at the National Ice Core Labs located at the Denver Federal Center.

When Sustainability Studies adjunct Jessica Burley starts off her “Thinking in Systems” class at Colorado Mountain College, she likes to ask her students the following question:

What can our history teach us about a sustainable future?

It’s a question Burley poses to her students without any expectation of what the response might be, but rather with the “hope to open the door to more questions about sustainability.”

On Friday, March 8th, four of Burley’s sustainability students had the opportunity to learn first hand what history can teach about our future. The students took a tour of the National Ice Core Laboratory in Denver, and took part in a Water and Climate workshop hosted by The Colorado Foundation for Water Education. The students were sponsored to attend the event with the support of the CMC Foundation.

The workshop’s agenda included informational talks by Colorado State Climatologist Nolan Doeskan and former director of the ice core labs and USGS Climate Scientist, Todd Hinkley. Doeskan and Hinkley briefed the group on “the basics of climatology, precipitation variation, history of Colorado climate and weather institutions, and the importance of ice core analysis known as cryptology,” says Burley.  The students’ time at the Denver Federal Center was important, says Burley, because “the knowledge they gained about climate science and water resources means that going forward, they’ll be better equipped with research tools and educational resources for our own program here at CMC.”

“One issue the students brought up is the lack of discussion of humans when we talk about climate, water, and generally our environment. Because we at CMC are focused on the 3 E’s of sustainability (environment, economy, and (social) equity), they wanted to know more about how these resources are disturbed equitably throughout human populations – and how climate change impacts the disadvantaged populations of our communities. These are great questions to be asking and I hope they continue to ask them as they move through their studies here at CMC.”

Historical perspective is critical to contemporary climate understanding

“By understanding what our climate was like historically, we can better understand the anthropogenic impacts on climate during our own period: the feedbacks loops of current industry, government policies, and personal behavior on ecosystems and the climate,” says Burley.

One example of how such information was conveyed to the students was a talk by Jeff Lukas, Western Water Assessment Research Scientist.  Lukas “put into perspective the effects of a warming climate and its feedbacks on specific Colorado case studies, particularly Upper Colorado Fisheries, Mountain Pine Beetle, and Dust on Snow events,” explains Burley.  “By applying the science learned from Doeskan and Hinkley, Lukas focused on feedback in the climate system to demonstrate what our future might be like under certain conditions. By paying attention to this, our history can teach us a lot about our future.”

About the National Ice Core Lab

The National Ice Core lab was established in the early 1990’s as a library of ice core samples that are processed, cut, and sent out to various universities participating in ice core analysis for purposes of climate research.

Ice cores are drilled, up to several thousand meters at a time, from Greenland and the international research stations on Antarctica. Once back in research centers, they can help tell us about the temperature and composition of the Earth’s climate during a specific time period in the past. Some of the oldest ice cores date back to 800,000 years ago. Because ice is compressed over time, layers form that trap bubbles of the Earth’ atmosphere, allowing scientists to analyze ratios of hydrogen and oxygen isotopes to determine what the temperature was during a particular timeframe. They also are able to measure the levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane.