The Science Museum is the first institution in the world to put an ‘ice core’ on display.
The three foot high block of ice was drilled from beneath the Antarctic in 1989 by the British Antarctic Survey. The core was taken from almost 200ft beneath the top of the ice, where the snow was laid down in layers hundreds of years ago, trapping the air.
It was brought back to England as part of efforts to try and understand the past climate and how greenhouse gases have affected temperatures.
Scientists are able to analyse the air trapped in the ice to find out the temperature at the time and how much carbon dioxide was in the air.
The method has enabled scientists to work out that during an ice age carbon dioxide levels are relatively low, whereas in the warm periods there is more carbon in the atmosphere.
This suggests that carbon dioxide causes global warming, prompting concern that the unprecedented growth in carbon since the industrial revolution could cause catastrophic climate change.
Professor Chris Rapley, Director of the Science Museum, said the ice core should help people to understand climate change science.
“Ice cores reveal a record of climate and environmental change covering many hundreds of thousands of years. In my experience the sight and story of the extraction of ice cores, and what they tell us, never fails to enthral,” he said.
The ice core will be displayed in a new gallery dedicated to climate change, that will be opened by the Prince of Wales next month.
The gallery explores how the climate has changed in the past and how it could change in the future due to the increase in emissions caused by makind.
Other exhibits include a 170-year-old copper beech, stalagmites and sea sediments.
Prof Rapley said the ‘Climategate’ scandal and the ongoing United Nations talks in Cancun, Mexico later this month make it even more important that people understand global warming and its possible impacts.
“At a time when the public understanding and engagement with climate change is recovering from a turbulent year, these tools provide a wonderful means to communicate and captivate,” he said.