Studies show evidence of previous pandemics, disasters throughout history.
Ice from glaciers around the world, undisturbed for centuries, show changes in how societies functioned throughout history – and will likely hold a record of the current impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for future generations.
The story of how the pandemic is affecting societies around the world is still unfolding, but ice accumulating on high-elevation ice fields around the world, as well as in Greenland, is almost certainly collecting physical, chemical and biological evidence of this time, said two researchers who have devoted their professional lives to studying ice.
“These records will be locked into the ice and preserved,” said Lonnie Thompson, distinguished professor of earth sciences at The Ohio State University and a senior research scientist at Ohio State’s Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center. “And that means that 100 or 200 years from now, that ice will be showing anything that is in the atmosphere now, and that will tell future generations about what is happening now.”
Continue reading at Ohio State University
Image via Ohio State University
