Drilling at the Russian Vostok station in East Antarctica, in the coldest place on Earth, reached a depth of 3,623 metres by 1998 and brought up a core of ice containing air bubbles trapped for 420,000 years. Analysed by a French, Russian and American team led by Jean-Robert Petit and published in Nature in 1999, it showed four complete ice age cycles and a close match between temperature and the concentration of carbon dioxide and methane. Greenhouse gases rose and fell with warm and cold periods, and never in those 420,000 years had carbon dioxide been as high as today's. It became a key piece of evidence in the debate on climate change.
Before and after
- 1999Construction of Shanghai Pudong International Airport
- 1999Founding of Gemini Observatory
- 1999Construction of Jin Mao Tower
- 1999The euro is launched
- 1999The Vostok ice core reveals 420,000 years of climate history
- 3 January 1999Launch of Mars Polar Lander
- from 10 January 1999 to 10 June 2007Premiere of The Sopranos
- from 31 January 1999 to 14 February 2002Premiere of Family Guy
- 7 February 1999Launch of Stardust
More in Earth & climate
- 1 January 1954Establishment of Niokolo-Koba National Park
- 22 May 1974Establishment of Northeast Greenland National Park
- 1976Establishment of Sagarmatha National Park
- 5 April 1979Establishment of Kakadu National Park
- 20242024 becomes the warmest year on record
- 26 August 20262026 Nepal–Tibet floods
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.