The rise in global temperatures that are causing Arctic ice to melt and sea levels to rise could disturb Cold War-era nuclear waste buried by the U.S. decades ago.

Climate change presents problems much more immediate and threatening than Cold War-era nuclear waste, Roy said.

“Probably going to have greater issues from climate change than the mobilization of radionuclides from the Cold War,” he said.

Its probably not disasterous, but I thought it was interesting as it raises the spectre of threats that are now appearing because we assumed we’d have a stable climate.

  • bstix@feddit.dkEnglish
    7·
    4 months ago

    It’s ridiculous how the military could be allowed to just up and leave.

    However it’s been monitored since 2016 and Denmark has paid the bill for cleaning up some of it already.

    The latest assessment from 2021 said that it’d be alright until 2100. Could probably be sooner now, but anyway, it’s so far up north that a whole lot of Greenland needs to melt before it reaches the pollution, so we’ll get a heads up in good time. And yes, there will likely be other even more serious issues if that happens.

    Here’s a video from 2016 which shows what it looks like. https://youtu.be/54TJORwhttM?si=ysehIUTrL6-CmuRF

    • Sonori@beehaw.org
      1·
      4 months ago

      Typically people are taking about things like high level waste from power plants produced today and which are properly stored, not random 60s military waste left in pits.