Exit, pursued by bear

摘要

The Greenland ice sheet is shrinking faster than anticipated. But it's not like it's never changed before. I study how the sheet responded to previous climate shifts so I can compare that growth and shrinkage with what we see today. That means giving up my warm Danish springs to travel to Greenland. When my team travels to the far north to take sediment core samples from lakes, it's so cold that our instant meals sometimes freeze solid in minutes. Climate change is shortening that cold season, which means less sea ice. Because polar bears use sea ice to hunt prey, warm temperatures leave them hungry-and dangerous.