Greenland’s ice: A trip back in time to see the future of climate change | Jon Gertner

Give yourself the gift of knowledge with a subscription to Big Think Edge. http://bit.ly/bigthinkedge There are ancient secrets and and clues to the future trapped in Greenland's ice. - The Greenland ice sheet covers 80% of the island of Greenland. The sheet is 1,500 miles long, 700 miles across, and two miles thick. Scientists call it the largest laboratory in the world. - By studying the minerals and gasses trapped in layers of ice, glaciologists can unravel mysteries of the past, such as what the temperature was 1,000 years ago, or search for clues as to why the Greenland Norse people vanished. - Ice cores are a key to the past that also unlocks the future. Studying Greenland's ice sheet is yielding valuable information about the future of climate change. Jon Gertner is a journalist and historian whose stories on science, technology, and nature have appeared in a host of national magazines. Since 2003 he has worked mainly as a feature writer for the New York Times Magazine. His first book, The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation, was a New York Times bestseller. His latest book is "The Ice at the End of the World: An Epic Journey into Greenland's Buried Past and Our Perilous Future" - https://amzn.to/2RtLtwY If you're interested in licensing this or any other Big Think clip for commercial or private use, contact our licensing partner Executive Interviews: http://bit.ly/2QU1U5i Read more at BigThink.com: http://bit.ly/2IZVVZk Follow Big Think here: YouTube: http://goo.gl/CPTsV5 Facebook: http://bit.ly/1qJMX5g Twitter: https://twitter.com/bigthink