Climate scientists are issuing urgent warnings about a forgotten Cold War menace emerging from beneath Greenland's fast-disappearing ice sheet. The source of the alarm is Camp Century, a long-abandoned US military installation whose underground remains were recently detected by NASA radar.
A Secret Frozen in Time
Built covertly in the late 1950s, Camp Century was a self-sufficient subterranean town. It featured a hospital, theatre, church, and shop, all powered by a small nuclear reactor. Located roughly 118 feet below the surface and spanning an area of about 0.7 by 0.3 miles, it was constructed with the knowledge of both the US and Danish governments under the 1951 Defense of Greenland Agreement.
At the time, planners assumed the immense ice sheet would permanently entomb the site and its waste. "That idea, that waste could be buried forever under ice, is unrealistic," stated James White, a climate scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder. "Climate change just means it's going to happen much faster than anyone expected."
The Toxic Legacy Thawing Out
As accelerating melt rates compromise the ice's integrity, the hazardous materials left behind threaten to seep into the environment. A study led by the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) estimates the site contains approximately 9,200 tons of physical waste, including buildings and tunnels.
More dangerously, it holds an estimated 200,000 litres of diesel fuel and significant quantities of toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), chemicals linked to cancer and developmental issues. The site also contains radioactive coolant from its nuclear reactor, which had an initial radioactivity of about 1.2 billion becquerels when buried.
"What climate change did was press the gas pedal to the floor," White explained, highlighting how warming has transformed a frozen tomb into a potential pollution source.
Geopolitical and Legal Quagmire
The environmental crisis is compounded by rising geopolitical tensions in the Arctic and unresolved legal questions. Recent calls for US control of Greenland by former President Donald Trump, citing Russian and Chinese activity, contrast sharply with the pollution threat scientists are highlighting.
Responsibility for a cleanup is disputed between the US, Denmark, and Greenland. The original 1951 treaty is ill-equipped to address climate change impacts or Greenland's modern self-governance, leaving it unclear who is liable for the waste. Researchers suggest Camp Century may be a precursor to global conflicts as climate change unearths other long-buried hazards.
While models suggest some waste may be buried deeper by ice flow by 2090, scientists stress that deeper burial does not equate to safety. The buried base serves as a stark reminder that the consequences of past actions, sealed in ice, are coming back to haunt the present.
