NASA scientists have rediscovered Camp Century, a Cold War-era U.S. military base buried under Greenland’s ice. Initially designed for Arctic research, the base served as a secret launch site for nuclear weapons and now poses a contamination risk as melting ice threatens to expose toxic waste.
Camp Century, constructed in 1959, was a state-of-the-art facility powered by a nuclear reactor and hidden within two miles of tunnels carved deep into the ice sheet.
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While its official purpose was to study Arctic construction techniques, it also housed “Project Iceworm,” a covert U.S. plan to station and potentially launch nuclear missiles toward the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
The base was abandoned in 1967 after shifting ice rendered it unusable, leaving behind diesel fuel, radioactive materials and biological waste. At the time, it was believed these materials would remain entombed forever, but climate change is rapidly melting Greenland’s ice sheet, threatening to release the waste into the environment.
NASA’s April 2024 radar survey revealed the base in unprecedented detail, including remnants of the tunnels and waste deposits. Scientists warn that contamination from Camp Century could seep into aquatic ecosystems and potentially reach the sea, raising environmental and health concerns.
Further research is being planned to monitor the site and predict how rapidly its hazardous materials may be exposed. For now, Camp Century serves as both a reminder of Cold War ambitions and a warning about the long-term impact of climate change.
A STUNNING DISCOVERY IN GREENLAND HAS UNEARTHED A RELIC OF COLD WAR HISTORY… HIDDEN FOR MORE THAN 50 YEARS BENEATH THE ICE.
IN APRIL, NASA RESEARCHERS WERE CONDUCTING AN AERIAL SURVEY OF GREENLAND’S ICE SHEET WHEN THEIR RADAR PICKED UP SOMETHING UNUSUAL—TURQUOISE DOTS AMIDST THE ICY EXPANSE. THESE DOTS TURNED OUT TO BE REMNANTS OF ‘CAMP CENTURY’…. A COLD WAR MILITARY PROJECT. THE DISCOVERY TOOK THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY BY STORM… ADDING NEW CONTEXT TO EARTH’S HISTORY WITH CLIMATE CHANGE.
Paul Bierman. Geoscientist. Climate Scientist. Environmental Historian. Professor, University of Vermont School of The Environment
“The ice sheet in Northwest Greenland disappeared 400,000 years ago and was replaced by Arctic tundra… and that is a fairly radical thing because it implies at least a meter and a half of sea level rise 400,000 years ago”
BUILT BY THE U-S ARMY IN 1959, CAMP CENTURY WAS NO ORDINARY MILITARY BASE. IT WAS PART RESEARCH STATION, PART NUCLEAR-POWERED OPERATION, HIDDEN WITHIN A TWO-MILE NETWORK OF TUNNELS CARVED DEEP INTO THE ARCTIC ICE.
OFFICIALLY, THE BASE WAS DESIGNED TO STUDY ARCTIC CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES, BUT ITS REAL PURPOSE WAS FAR MORE AMBITIOUS… AND SECRETIVE… AN OPERATION KNOWN AS ‘PROJECT ICEWORM’
UNDER THE PROJECT… THE U-S PLANNED TO HOUSE AND POTENTIALLY LAUNCH NUCLEAR MISSILES FROM GREENLAND, TARGETING THE SOVIET UNION AT THE HEIGHT OF COLD WAR TENSIONS.
THE BASE FEATURED FACILITIES LIKE A HOSPITAL, A CHURCH, AND EVEN A CINEMA FOR ITS 200 PERSONNEL, BUT IT WAS ALSO EQUIPPED WITH A NUCLEAR REACTOR. HOWEVER THE PROJECT FACED INSURMOUNTABLE CHALLENGES OVER TIME. GREENLAND’S SHIFTING ICE MADE THE TUNNELS UNSTABLE, AND IN 1967, CAMP CENTURY WAS ABANDONED.
WHILE THE NUCLEAR REACTOR WAS REMOVED, NOT EVERYTHING WAS.
LEFT BEHIND WERE 200,000 LITERS OF DIESEL FUEL, 24 MILLION LITERS OF BIOLOGICAL WASTE, AND 1.2 MILLION UNITS OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE. AT THE TIME, IT WAS ASSUMED THESE MATERIALS WOULD REMAIN ENTOMBED IN ICE FOREVER.
BUT WITH CLIMATE CHANGE ACCELERATING THE MELTING OF GREENLAND’S ICE SHEET, THIS TOXIC LEGACY MAY RESURFACE. SCIENTISTS WARN THAT THE WASTE COULD SEEP INTO THE SURROUNDING ENVIRONMENT, CONTAMINATING AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS AND POTENTIALLY REACHING THE SEA.
ALEX GARDNER…. A CRYOSPHERIC SCIENTIST AT NASA’S JET PROPULSION LABORATORY SAYS:
“IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW HOW THE ICE SHEETS WILL RESPOND TO RAPIDLY WARMING OCEANS AND ATMOSPHERE, GREATLY LIMITING OUR ABILITY TO PROJECT RATES OF SEA LEVEL RISE.”
THE DISCOVERY OF CAMP CENTURY ISN’T JUST A GLIMPSE INTO COLD WAR HISTORY… IT’S A STARK WARNING ABOUT THE LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES OF HUMAN ACTIVITY IN FRAGILE ENVIRONMENTS. NASA SAYS FURTHER RESEARCH IS CRITICAL, NOT JUST TO MONITOR THIS SITE, BUT TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW MELTING ICE SHEETS WILL SHAPE OUR PLANET IN THE YEARS TO COME.
FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS… I’M LAUREN TAYLOR.
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