EPFL glaciologist Jérôme Chappellaz participated in 2024 in a public debate at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BNF) alongside jurist Anne Choquet and astrophysicist Jean Duprat to discuss polar exploration and its crucial importance for science and society.
The discussion, titled "Explorer les pôles" (Exploring the Poles) and moderated by science journalist Caroline Lachowsky, explored why and how researchers venture to the Arctic and Antarctic, what they study there, and the geopolitical stakes surrounding these remote regions.
A Natural Laboratory for Climate Science
As head of the Extreme Environments Research Laboratory at EPFL and former director of the French Polar Institute Paul-Émile Victor, Chappellaz has made approximately ten expeditions to Antarctica and eight to the Arctic. His work focuses on ice cores that preserve a detailed record of Earth's past climate.
Ice cores allow scientists to reconstruct past temperatures and greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere with remarkable precision. This research, pioneered by French glaciologist Claude Lorius in the 1980s, provided irrefutable evidence of the link between greenhouse gases and climate change, helping establish the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Polar Regions: Sentinels of Climate Change
The polar regions are experiencing amplified warming compared to global averages. In the Arctic, warming is currently four times greater than the global average, with some locations like Svalbard experiencing temperature increases of 3°C per decade in winter.
Antarctica contains enough ice to raise global sea levels by 50-60 meters if it were to completely melt, while Greenland holds 6-8 meters of potential sea level rise. Worryingly, Greenland's ice sheet is already in disequilibrium at current warming levels of 1.3°C above pre-industrial temperatures.
A Unique Governance Model
Anne Choquet explained the special legal status of Antarctica under the Antarctic Treaty signed in 1959. The treaty established a freeze on territorial claims and designated Antarctica for peaceful purposes and scientific cooperation, even at the height of the Cold War. This framework has enabled unprecedented international scientific collaboration.
Preserving Ice for Future Generations
Chappellaz, also president of Ice Memory Foundation until early 2025, an initiative to preserve ice core samples from threatened glaciers for future scientific study. These samples are being stored at Concordia Station in Antarctica, where natural temperatures of -50°C provide a sustainable deep freeze without requiring energy, and where Antarctica's unique governance makes it ideal for creating a common heritage for humanity.
Challenges and Opportunities
The discussion also addressed current challenges facing polar research, including funding constraints and the need to reduce the carbon footprint of polar expeditions. At the One Planet Polar Summit in Paris, President Macron announced a €1 billion plan over 10 years for polar research, though subsequent budget cuts have cast doubt on implementation.
The poles remain essential laboratories for understanding our planet's past, present, and future—making continued investment in polar science crucial for addressing the climate crisis.