When Greenland was green: Ancient soil from beneath a mile of ice offers warnings for the future
- Written by Paul Bierman, Fellow of the Gund Institute for Environment, Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Vermont
Water and sediment pour off the melting margin of the Greenland ice sheet.Jason Edwards/Photodisc via Getty ImagesAbout 400,000 years ago, large parts of Greenland were ice-free. Scrubby tundra basked in the Sun’s rays on the island’s northwest highlands. Evidence suggests that a forest of spruce trees, buzzing with insects, covered...