Sent in by Eric after reading the earlier post on the subject. This time we get an Australian perspective.
Go to https://www.joannenova.com.au/2024/08/the-whole-of-greenland-melted-away-in-the-last-million-years-and-it-wasnt-due-to-cars-and-coal/ …… an interesting take on the discovery that the Two Mile Time Machine ice core, otherwise GISP2, had actually reached the bottom of the ice – and had landed on soil. Researchers decided to have a look at what might be in that sediment and were surprised that it showed Greenland was completely ice free via the discovery of fossil wood, a poppy seed, and the remains of insects. JoNova begins by saying ‘the experts’ thought the Greenland ice sheet had been there for the whole of the Pleistocene era – even during Interglacials. She adds, it was just another modern consensus opinion – feeding the myth that climate was perfect until Big Coal screwed it up in the 19th century. Quoting one of the authors, she goes on – although the ice core, drilled in 1993, had been studied extensively, nobody had thought to look for fossils in the ’till’ sediment at the bottom. He even admits that until recently the idea that Greenland was ice free in the recent geological past seemned too far fetched. After all, the consensus is certain the poles can’t move. That too is far fetched – and the idea of cosmic objects in swarms hitting the earth. In fact, the consensus opinion seems to think a lot of sciency things are well known and any counter view to beliefs such as Plate Tectonics or Big Bang is simply ridiculous.
Going back to JoNova, she adds, the Greenland ice sheet had melted and the ocean presumably rose by the 7 odd metres which is theoretically supposed to follow, yet coral reefs continued to flourish. Or at least, they did not vanish. You may note, Australia has a very big coral reef which has been used over and over again as under threat from global warming. She also says Greenland ice melted just 416,000 years ago. Why didn’t it melt during the three other warm periods that followed it? We may imagine something else was going on.
The story has popped up on all sorts of odd locations of the Internet. One to read is at https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2024/08/12/fossils-from-greenlands-icy-heart-reveal-it-was-a-green-tundra-covered-in-flowers-less-than-1-million-years-ago/ …. and see in particular the first comment by brianrlcatt at 7.45 pm on 12th August. He seems to be saying the ice on Greenland melted on multiple occasions – even during the last interglacial known as the Eemian. See also https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JF003215 … and https://theconversation.com/ancient-leaves-preserved-under-a-mile-of-greenlands-ice-and-left-in-freezer-for-years-hold-lessons-about-climate-change-157105 … and the last one seems to indicate it is well known that ice cores, at different locations on Greenlands ice sheet, reach the bottom and soil in the not too distant past. The DOI link is to a full article published in 2015. So, no surprises about reaching the bottom – and it must be media hype, or the way the press release was written.