Scientists discovered 128,000-year-old ice in Tibet that may provide new insights into past climate conditions.

"128,000-year-old ice in Tibet could rewrite climate history" — Science Daily · Science & Medicine

29 Oct 2026

What it means

Scientists have discovered ice on Tibet's Guliya Plateau that is more than 128,000 years old—far older than previously known for non-polar glaciers. The ice cores preserve a continuous climate record stretching back before the last ice age, offering a rare window into Earth's past climate dynamics and potentially challenging existing models of how mountain glaciers behaved during warm interglacial periods.

Accuracy & sourcesGrounded

The claim is based on peer-reviewed research led by paleoclimatologist Lonnie Thompson and colleagues at Ohio State University, published in a scientific journal (likely Science). The Science Daily article is a secondary summary, but the primary source is solid and widely reported (Ohio State news release, Science Magazine coverage). There is no reason to doubt the core finding that the Guliya ice is at least 128,000 years old.

How new

Genuinely new: the Science Daily article appeared on October 29, 2026, and follows a wave of coverage from early October 2026 reporting the same discovery.