Ice core analysis and interpretation of ice-core derived data in a broad, climatic context is the focus of Centre for Ice and Climate. The centre of excellence opened April 2007 and is a 5-year effort funded by the Danish National Research Foundation.

The centre leader is Professor Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, who is also head of the Ice and Climate Research Group at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, with which the centre is fully integrated.

Centre Vision

The build-up of greenhouse gases is dramatically changing Earth's climate. It is intensively debated whether projected increases in global temperatures will melt the Greenland ice sheet and increase sea level by several meters. There is an urgent need to better understand past climate and improve future climate projections.

Ice cores provide a comprehensive history of climate with high resolution and they document the full dynamics of the coupled atmosphere-ocean-ice system. Our vision is to contribute to an improved understanding of the present and past warm interglacial periods by studying ice cores, and developing models to explain observations and predict the ice sheet response to climate change.

The centre will lead an international effort in cutting-edge climate research, coordinate the drilling of a new deep ice core in Greenland, and make a significant contribution to Danish International Polar Year activities on the evolution of the Greenland ice sheet.
Read more about the centre objectives.