Camp Century is a U.S. military base built in northwestern Greenland in 1959 as a research facility to test nuclear missiles during the Cold War. It was, however, abandoned almost 50 years ago after the United States decommissioned the camp in 1967.
Camp Century was left buried under the Greenland ice sheet along with trucks, tunnels and wastes from a nuclear reactor. These wastes include tons of sewage, gasoline, radioactive coolant water and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
The U.S. and Denmark, which controlled Greenland at the time, did not give the wastes much thought since they assumed that the continual snowfall would only bury the military base deeper.
It appears, however, that this will not be the case given the warming temperatures that thaw the world's ice sheets.
Scientists revealed that global warming may release the radioactive waste stored in the deserted military camp if Greenland's ice continues to melt in the coming decades.
The base is currently buried about 35 meters below the surface but the part of the ice sheet that covers the camp may start to melt by the end of the century if current warming trends continue, scientists warned.
Researchers of a new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters on Aug. 4 said that the military camp's infrastructure, which include the remaining biological, radioactive and chemical wastes, could re-enter the environment and disrupt nearby ecosystem because of climate change.
The chemicals pose health threats. In animal studies, for instance, PCBs which were once widely used in electrical structures and equipment have been shown to be harmful to the nervous system, endocrine system, reproductive system and immune system.
Although these studies were conducted on animals, similar effects are expected to likely happen when humans are exposed to these toxic chemicals. Effects include increased risk for cancer.
The situation highlights another unwanted impact of global warming. The changing climate is already being blamed for wars, famine and decimation of animal populations.
"Camp Century now possesses unanticipated political significance in light of anthropogenic climate change," William Colgan, from York University in Canada, and colleagues wrote in their study.
"The potential remobilization of wastes that were previously regarded as properly sequestered, or preserved for eternity, is an instance, possibly the first, of a potentially new pathway to political dispute associated with climate change."
Unfortunately despite the threats, the researchers said that it would be very costly to remove the wastes now. They recommended waiting until the ice sheet has melted to the point it would almost expose the waste before conducting site remediation.
