Greenland's Lost City Rediscovered Thanks to Modern Technology

A team of NASA scientists recently mapped Camp Century, an abandoned US base buried under 30 meters of ice in Greenland. The discovery, made with the help of modern radar detection technologies, brings to the fore the secrets of this Cold War-era site, built in 1959 and abandoned in 1966.

• A secret Cold War military project

Camp Century was officially created as a testing ground for underground construction, but the base's true purpose was top secret: a launch point for ballistic missiles that could reach the Soviet Union in the event of a conflict. The ambitious project was abandoned after the constantly moving ice sheet began to destroy the tunnel structures and compromise the stability of the site. Although the base's existence was known, new technology used by NASA allowed for a detailed visualization of the remaining structures, showing the tunnels and other elements of the base "in a way that has never been seen before," according to researcher Alex Gardner.

• Toxic Legacy

The abandonment of the base left behind an estimated 200,000 liters of diesel fuel and radioactive waste. As Greenland's ice sheet melts due to climate change, this waste risks contaminating the environment. The issue has generated political tensions between Greenland and Denmark, which holds sovereignty over the territory. Greenland has demanded that Denmark take responsibility for cleaning up the site, arguing that the project was carried out with the consent of the Danes.

• Greenland: A Geopolitical and Economic Interest

Camp Century is just one of the many facets of Greenland, a strategic region both geopolitically and economically. Melting glaciers are revealing vast natural resources, including gold, rubies, diamonds, copper, and oil. This potential led former US President Donald Trump to express interest in buying Greenland in 2019, describing it as "a great real estate deal." However, this rapid glacier melt is not without consequences: rising sea levels caused by climate change threaten coastal communities around the world, including cities in Greenland. NASA's rediscovery of Camp Century highlights the power of modern technology to explore inaccessible areas, providing new insights into the history and impact of human activities on the environment. At the same time, it brings back to the forefront the ecological and political challenges related to the legacy of the Cold War and the effects of climate change. As Greenland continues to attract global interest, the story of Camp Century serves as a warning and a lesson about the impact of human interventions in fragile environments and our responsibility to future generations.