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Good morning, Northwest.

Scientists from Oregon State University and the University of Washington have found the oldest ice ever dated. They are using these ancient ice cores to uncover the secrets of Antarctica’s climate.

OPB’s Jes Burns dives into this wild science news to lead off this morning’s newsletter.

In other news, levee breaches have forced evacuations near Seattle with more heavy rain expected in the Pacific Northwest this week. And Washington state may have its own transportation funding issue unfolding.

Here’s your First Look at Tuesday’s news.

—Francisca Benitez

Finding old ice and studying the climate clues it holds

Tiny bubbles. For some, they might hold the key to a fun evening. For a group of Northwest researchers, they may just hold the answer to some questions about climate change.

In Antarctica, those scientists from Oregon State University have been drilling in layers of ice since 2021, pulling out ancient ice cores. Recently, they extracted the oldest ice ever directly dated: 6 million years old.

By studying the gases trapped in bubbles in the ice they can determine things like past temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. The ice shows Antarctica has gradually cooled in the past 6 million years — a trend that has been sharply reversed in the past century. (Jes Burns)

Learn more

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3 things to know this morning

• Residents near a breached levee in the city of Pacific, about 20 miles south of Seattle, were told to evacuate early this morning. Rain and possible flooding are expected to continue in the Northwest this week. (Manuel Valdes and Claire Rush)
• OPB’s Class of 2025 was a 13-year reporting project following young Oregon students on their complicated roads to graduation. If you’re short on time, we’ve summed up the the biggest issues and conclusions here. (Elizabeth Miller)
• Oregon recently became one of the few states requiring data centers to foot the costs of growing energy and transmission infrastructure that’s needed to power them. But months later, PGE developed a plan that shows it could be trying to find a work-around. (Alex Baumhardt)

Headlines from around the Northwest

• Maneuver to shore up Washington’s transportation budget could be reversed (Jake Goldstein-Street) 
• Army Corps of Engineers temporarily takes over a Skagit River dam to lower flood waters in northeast Washington (John Ryan) 
• Rains help fill reservoirs, but warmer storms have put Oregon in a snowpack deficit (Karen Richards)

Listen in on OPB’s daily conversation

“Think Out Loud” airs at noon and 8 p.m. weekdays on OPB Radio, opb.org and the OPB News app. Today’s planned topics (subject to change):

• University of Oregon researcher shares advice on parenting in the digital age 
• Portland may limit fuel storage on the Willamette River 
• Portland band Karaoke from Hell has been backing up karaoke singers live since 1992

The original Sellwood Bridge opened 100 years ago

The original Sellwood Bridge opened to traffic 100 years ago yesterday, ending two decades of ferry service between Portland and the Sellwood/Westmoreland neighborhoods.

It was the first of a three-bridge plan to connect the east and west sides of the Willamette River. The $5 million project included rebuilding the Burnside Bridge and creating two new high-span bridges at Sellwood and Ross Island.

Expenses ballooned far beyond the original budget, and an investigation found three county commissioners charged with “graft, bribery and malfeasance” in awarding the building contracts. The men were acquitted but later recalled from office.

Almost as soon as it opened, people complained about congestion. The bridge was narrow, with just two lanes, no shoulders or median and one four-foot sidewalk. Construction began on a new bridge in 2013. It was completed three years later in 2016. (Kami Horton)

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/12/16/old-ice-antarctica-first-look/