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Greenland

A glacier in Greenland, pictured in June 2025.

24 Billion Gallons of Water Burst Through Greenland’s Ice Sheet From a Hidden Lake in 2014. Scientists Just Pieced Together What Happened

A new study suggests ice sheet meltwater doesn’t always move downward—sometimes, it can erupt

Greenlandic sled dogs, also known as Qimmit, play while resting.

Greenland Sled Dog DNA Reveals a Story of Human Migration and Ancestry of the Unique Breed

Researchers analyzed ancient and modern genetic samples of the Greenlandic Qimmit breed to shed light on the long relationship between the Inuit and their dogs in the Arctic

Scoresby Sund in Eastern Greenland is the largest fjord system in the world.

Nine Ways to Experience Greenland’s Unique Culture and Icy Landscapes

The first-ever direct flights from the United States to Greenland will give tourists easier access to the island’s history, culture and natural wonders

Ever since its departure from England exactly 180 years ago, on May 19, 1845, the Franklin expedition has captivated the public’s imagination.

The Shipwrecks From John Franklin’s Doomed Arctic Expedition Were Exactly Where the Inuit Said They Would Be

In May 1845, 129 British officers and crew members set out in search of the Northwest Passage on HMS “Erebus” and HMS “Terror.” None returned

Part of an ice core taken from a borehole drilled in the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream

Tiny Quakes Discovered Deep Within Greenland’s Ice Sheet Could Change Sea-Level Rise Predictions, Study Suggests

While scientists once thought Greenland’s ice streams flowed slowly and uniformly, new research reveals a quake-driven “stick-slip” motion that’s linked to volcanic activity thousands of years ago

A skin diver swims with a sperm whale in the Caribbean off of Dominica.

Eight Natural Phenomena Worth Traveling for in 2025

You won’t regret experiencing bioluminescence, swimming with sperm whales or witnessing the rush of a horizontal waterfall

Ships float in Aasiaat’s harbor.

As Greenland’s Ice Sheet Melts, an Island Town Rises

Geologists are working with local communities to determine how residents can adapt as the area’s sea level, in effect, goes down

A NASA scientist's picture out the window of a plane over Greenland, combined with the new radar map of Camp Century, at the bottom.

NASA Radar Detects Abandoned Site of Secret Cold War Project in Greenland—a ‘City Under the Ice’

Camp Century was built in 1959 and advertised as a U.S. research site—but it also hosted a clandestine missile facility

A lead canister carrying the fuel rods from the U.S. Army’s Camp Century nuclear reactor in Greenland, during decommissioning in 1960s.

The Odd Arctic Military Projects Spawned by the Cold War

Many offbeat research efforts were doomed to fail, from atomic subways to a city under the ice.

A mountain in the Dickson Fjord after 33 million cubic yards of its rock and ice collapsed in a landslide.

A Mysterious Seismic Signal Lasted Nine Days Last Year. It Was a Mega-Tsunami Caused by Climate Change, Researchers Say

A melting glacier caused a mountain in Greenland to collapse into a narrow fjord, setting off an oscillating wave that rattled seismic detectors around the world

Hunters, trappers and other land users in the North are using Siku, a mobile app named after the Inuktitut word for “sea ice,” to share environmental information, including ice conditions. Here, an Inuit hunter prepares to test the safety of sea ice near Sanikiluaq, Nunavut, with a harpoon.

This App Lets Inuit Combine Traditional Knowledge With Scientific Data

Indigenous communities from Alaska to Greenland are harnessing information to make their own decisions

Researchers say that as climate change melts ice in Greenland, the influx of cool freshwater could weaken a network of ocean currents that affects Earth's weather.

A Vital Ocean Current System Could Collapse as Soon as 2025, Study Predicts

Climate change could halt the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation sooner than thought, per a new paper, but some scientists are skeptical

A massive ice island breaks free of the Petermann Glacier in northwestern Greenland in July 2012.

Satellites Show Warming Tides Melting a Massive Greenland Glacier

The finding could mean that past predictions of sea-level rise from glaciers should double

Dig Tsho, a glacial lake in Nepal that burst in August 1985

Fifteen Million People at Risk of Severe Floods From Melting Glaciers

Rising temperatures could worsen glacial lake outbursts, unleashing massive inland waves on downstream communities, a study finds

2 million years ago, Greenland was roughly 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than it is today. 

New ‘Astounding’ Analysis Argues That Greenland Used to Be a Lush, Diverse Ecosystem

Scientists found evidence of over 100 types of plants and animals that lived in the northern part of the island around two million years ago

An illustration of the under-ice river

A Massive Freshwater River Is Flowing Under Antarctica’s Ice

The 285-mile-long stretch of meltwater is longer than the Thames and could speed ice loss

Ice collapsing off the Russell Glacier in Greenland. Researchers agree that ice-sheet melt in Greenland will lead to at least several inches of global sea-level rise by the end of the century. 

Melting Greenland Ice Sheet Will Cause at Least Ten Inches of Sea-Level Rise, Study Finds

Experts break down the new finding, which provides a higher estimate of meltwater than previous research

Ruins of a Norse church in Greenland.

New Research

Why Did the Vikings Abandon Their Most Successful Settlement in Greenland?

A new study argues that an extended drought, and not cold temperatures, drove the Norse settlers from the region

Researchers predict the Last Ice Area will survive the longest in a warming world—but how long the ice will last is unclear. Some estimates suggest the ice will be gone entirely by 2100.

The ‘Last Ice Area’ May Provide a Final Refuge for Arctic Life in a Warming World

The Arctic Ocean region may provide a sanctuary to animals who need the summertime frozen habitat for survival

A recreation of Viking structures at L’Anse aux Meadows

New Dating Method Shows Vikings Occupied Newfoundland in 1021 C.E.

Tree ring evidence of an ancient solar storm enables scientists to pinpoint the exact year of Norse settlement

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