Long forgotten ice samples from the Cold War were finally rediscovered in Greenland. What scientists found could change how we predict our future climate.

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Over half a century ago, scientists at a secret Cold War military base in Greenland took samples from deep beneath the island’s ice sheet. This frozen time capsule was forgotten for decades, until it was accidentally unearthed from a storage freezer.

In 1966, the team had dug nearly 1400 meters down into the ice sheet. When they finally hit dirt, they took a few cookie jars worth of samples before stopping.

Those samples were labeled, preserved in a freezer, and subsequently forgotten. Fast forward half a century later, when after their accidental rediscovery, an international team of scientists began investigating them for the first time.

And what they found was stunning: Not only did the samples contain sand and rock, but they also contained the fossilized remains of plant material!

Now, researchers are using these samples to gain insights into Greenland's climate history and get a clearer picture of its future as Earth’s climate warms.

#earthscience #globalwarming #greenland #science #seeker #elements

Read More:
Fossils in a Forgotten Ice Core Rewrite Greenland’s Icy Past
https://www.wired.com/story/fossils-i...
"He collected a few and put them under the microscope for a better look. 'Oh my God, these are plants,' he remembers exclaiming. 'I went full-on mad scientist.'"

Secret Cold War base shifts through Greenland ice
https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-f...
"An abandoned US military base buried deep under the Greenland ice has drifted hundreds of metres towards the edge of the ice cap since it was built at the height of the Cold War, a report shows."

Going, Going … Gone: Greenland’s Melting Ice Sheet Passed a Point of No Return in the Early 2000s
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/15...
"Melting ice is the main cause of sea level rise, and Greenland contributes the most meltwater to the ocean."

Production Intern: Sally Gu
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