The Wider Image: Scientists race to read Austria's melting climate archive
Werner Aeschbach, head of the ArTTA Atom Trap Trace Analysis working group, wheels a container with ice sample inside, towards a laboratory of the Argon-Preparation-System at the Institute of Environmental Physics in Heidelberg, Germany, December 6, 2018. Atom Trap Trace Analysis for 39Ar is an ultra-sensitive detection method based on principles of quantum mechanics. Scientists extract Argon, a Noble Gas, from the air bubbles trapped in the ice. After the extraction, scientists catch and count the rare Ar39 atoms to determine the age of the air and in result the age of the ice. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner SEARCH "AUSTRIA GLACIERS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.