This newly extracted ice preserved a record of our planet’s climate history, continuous information on atmospheric temperatures, and some clear samples of old air with greenhouse gases. “This is the longest continuous record of our past climate from an ice core,

Analysis of the ancient ice is expected to show how Earth's atmosphere and climate have evolved. Scientists say it should provide insight into how Ice Age cycles have changed, and may help in understanding how atmospheric carbon changed climate.

The same team previously drilled a core about 800,000 years old. The latest drilling went 2.8 kilometers (about 1.7 miles) deep, with a team of 16 scientists and support personnel drilling each summer over four years in average temperatures of about minus-35 Celsius (minus-25.6 Fahrenheit).