French glaciologist Claude Lorius was one of the first scientists to provide proof of human caused global warming
French glaciologist Claude Lorius was one of the first scientists to provide proof of human caused global warming AFP

Leading glaciologist Claude Lorius, whose Antarctica discoveries in the 1980s helped prove humanity's role in global warming, has died at 91.

Lorius died on Tuesday morning in the French region of Burgundy according to Jerome Chappellaz, a palaeoclimatologist and former colleague who remains close to the family.

The French publisher Arthaud, which produced the glaciologist's memoirs, also announced his death in a statement.

A great scientist, "Claude was also of the finest calibre of polar expedition adventurers", said the famous French explorer Jean-Louis Etienne in a video posted on Twitter.

The dedicated polar explorer led 22 expeditions, in Greenland and above all in Antarctica, where he lived on and off for six years, starting from his first mission in 1957.

In the 1970s, Lorius began to suspect human involvement in the planet's warming.

But it wasn't until a 1984 expedition at the most remote Russian Antarctic base, Vostok, that Lorius was able to study ice cores drilled deep into the frozen polar landscape and confirm his suspicions.

He is perhaps most internationally renowned for research, published in 1987, into air bubbles trapped in the ice, which allowed scientists to look back over 160,000 years' worth of glacial records.

This research showed that while carbon dioxide had varied slightly over time, the concentrations of the greenhouse gas had rocketed as temperatures rose since the middle of the 19th century -- the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.

French research agency CNRS said that left "no room for doubt" that the warming was caused by the pollution from human activities.

From then on Lorius dedicated himself to mobilising the fight against global warming.

He was an inaugural expert of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) after the UN expert group was created in 1988.

In 2002, he was awarded the CNRS gold medal along with his colleague and friend Jean Jouzel.

A global figure, Lorius was the first Frenchmen to receive the prestigious Blue Planet Prize. He was awarded the Bower Medal for scientific achievement in 2017 by the Franklin Institute.

Lorius returned to Antarctica in his eighties to feature in director Luc Jacquet's documentary "Ice and the Sky" showcasing the explorer's extraordinary career. The film premiered at the closing ceremony of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.