JIM MCMAHON/MAPMAN®

A group of scientists recently hit the slopes—but not to ski. They visited the French Alps to collect ice from the Col du Dôme glacier, a slowly moving river of ice. Climate change is causing this and other glaciers around the world to melt. So a new project, called Ice Memory, aims to gather samples from the dwindling glaciers before they’re gone for good.

Glacial ice dates back thousands of years. It contains clues about how Earth’s temperature and atmosphere have changed over time. When glaciers melt, the information they contain disappears as well.

The time to preserve glacier samples is now, says project leader and glaciologist Jérôme Chappellaz. Then they can “be studied by scientists of future generations who will have new ideas and new technologies.”