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A scientific study led by the University at Buffalo revealed that summer temperatures at Camp Century, where the US Army pursued a secret Cold War in Greenland, were 8.5 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than modern summers during an ice-free period approximately 416,000 years ago.
The researchers could investigate this through an ancient sediment recovered from beneath the site in the 1960s.
Greenland summers were warmer during the Cold War period
According to the investigation, published in the scientific journal Climate of the Past, the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) would have had to retreat more than 60 miles from its present-day edge in that region for Camp Century to be free of ice.
The findings suggest that northwestern Greenland experienced sustained warm conditions, allowing the ice sheet to retreat considerably. The researchers estimated that summer air temperatures were 8.5 degrees Fahrenheit higher than those of the late 20th century.
Ancient molecules reveal how warm Greenland was
The study’s findings come from sediment extracted nearly a mile beneath the ice sheet during Project Iceworm, a secret US Army initiative developed during the Cold War. The samples contained molecular remains that helped scientists reconstruct the area’s ancient climate.
Researchers analyzed fatty molecules produced by bacteria, known as biomarkers, whose types and proportions vary with temperature. By comparing them with similar molecules found in modern Arctic lakes, they estimated summer temperatures at Camp Century during the ice-free period.
The sediment was recovered in the 1960s but remained largely forgotten for decades. After being stored at the University at Buffalo and later at the University of Copenhagen, the samples returned to researchers’ attention in 2018, allowing scientists to investigate their climate records with modern techniques.
Why the duration of warming matters for Greenland’s ice sheet
The researchers found that the results were not simply explained by higher temperatures. Greenland also experienced similarly warm summers between 5,000 and 10,000 years ago, following the last ice age, but Camp Century remained covered by ice.
The difference may have been how long the warm conditions lasted. The period 416,000 years ago may have experienced sustained warmth for tens of thousands of years, giving the ice sheet more time to melt and retreat.
The findings offer insight into how Greenland’s ice responds to long-term warming. However, the study’s authors cautioned against interpreting the results as reassuring: current human-caused warming is more intense than the ancient warm period, and climate projections suggest that elevated temperatures could persist for centuries or millennia. Both the magnitude and duration of warming will influence the ice sheet’s future response.