A bunch of articles in today's issue of Nature use precise measurements of the composition of glacial air bubbles to extend the record of atmospheric gases (and airborne dust) back to 800,000 years before present. (Previously, the record "only" went back to 650,000 years before present.) Fully eight glacial cycles are seen in the new, expanded dataset. These new findings are all part of the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA), and they offer some new insights, as well as additional confirmation of the close link between climate and past fluctuations in CO2 and CH4. Check it out.

Labels: climate change, CO2, global warming, ice