Greenland's caves preserve ancient climate archive
In a remote cave in northern Greenland, a team led by geologists Gina Moseley, Gabriella Koltai and Jonathan Baker has discovered evidence of a significantly warmer Arctic. Cave deposits show that millions of years ago, the region was free of permafrost and sensitive to rising temperatures. The findings, published in Nature Geoscience, provide new insights into past climate developments and their significance for today's climate protection.
Animated explanatory video about the study
Studying past environmental conditions is important. It helps us understand how human-induced climate change works. By studying the Arctic and its responses to previous warm periods, scientists can make more accurate predictions for the future. A groundbreaking study by Dr Gina Moseley, Dr Gabriella Koltai and Dr Jonathan Baker at the University of Innsbruck reveals Greenland's dramatically different past. Scientists found mineral deposits deep in ancient caves. These show that it was significantly warmer in the late Miocene, about 11.6 to 5.3 million years ago.