Microfossil willow wood, fungi, insect body parts, and a poppy seed have been recovered from sediments at the bottom of central Greenland’s two-mile-long GISP2 ice core.^1,2 This find is similar to an earlier discovery of such fossils found in basal sediments from the Camp Century ice core near Greenland’s northwest coast.³ These microfossils suggest that Greenland once had a tundra-like environment, with grasses but few trees. Because plants cannot grow directly in ice, this find greatly strengthens the argument that much of Greenland was ice-free relatively recently.

Although uniformitarian climate scientists think glaciers were present in Greenland long before the so-called Pleistocene Ice Age, they think it was only at the start of the Pleistocene 2.6 million years ago that the glaciers merged to form a thick ice sheet that covered most of the large island. Because they think the microfossil material is significantly younger than this, perhaps around one million years old,¹ they interpret this as evidence that much of the thick Greenland ice sheet melted away fairly recently. They also interpret this as evidence that the Greenland ice sheet is unstable and that global warming could cause a dangerous rise in global sea level.

“This new study confirms and extends that a lot of sea-level rise occurred at a time when causes of warming were not especially extreme,” said Richard Alley, a leading climate scientist at Penn State who reviewed the new research, “providing a warning of what damages we might cause if we continue to warm the climate.”¹

This is a classic example of how incorrect beliefs about past climate change can lead to incorrect conclusions about future climate change. Creation scientists agree Greenland was ice-free not that long ago, but the real question is, Why?

The Bible has the answer. About 4,500 years ago, God used a global flood to destroy the world for its wickedness, as described in Genesis 6–9. This global cataclysm, in which catastrophic plate tectonics played a major role,^4,5 is the reason the world’s continents are covered with thousands of feet of thick, water-deposited sedimentary rock units—rock units that contain the fossilized remains of trillions of plants and animals. The warm oceans and volcanic aerosols from this tectonic activity provided the necessary conditions for an Ice Age that lasted hundreds of years.⁶

The Genesis Flood destroyed or uprooted every plant and tree on the planet. However, abundant plant debris and many seeds undoubtedly survived the cataclysm. Trees and shrubs can grow up quickly, but it can take many hundreds of years—perhaps even a millennium—for a thick, canopied forest to grow from naturally-planted seeds. Thus, thick, mature forests were scarce during the Ice Age, even at low latitudes. This fact has long mystified uniformitarian scientists.^7–9 It is therefore not surprising that scientists are describing the environment in Greenland at that time as “an entire tundra ecosystem, perhaps with stunted trees.”¹ A tundra is defined as a biome in which tree growth is hindered due to very cold temperatures. During the Ice Age, tree growth was hindered, not so much by cold as by the fact that insufficient time had elapsed since the Flood for thick, mature forests to grow. Indeed, Ice Age biomes, almost without exception, are described even in conventional scientific literature as grassy savannahs and tundra with relatively few trees.⁸

But what about the vast age assignments? The claim that the ice in Greenland melted about one million years ago is coming from beryllium-10 dating of the rocky material at the base of the core. The estimated age depends upon the amount of cosmic ray exposure this rocky material received when it was at the surface. However, creation scientists think many more cosmic rays entered the atmosphere during the Ice Age.¹⁰ Uniformitarian scientists failing to take this into account is resulting in greatly inflated age estimates.

Also, Bible critics have long claimed that the deep GISP2 ice core, from which these microfossils were obtained, provides unassailable proof that the earth is more than 6,000 years old.¹¹ However, creation researchers have thoroughly refuted this claim.^12,13 Moreover, there is positive evidence that the earth’s thick ice sheets are much younger than uniformitarian scientists claim.^14,15

This is another example of how uniformitarian and evolutionary beliefs are needlessly contributing to concerns about climate change.^16,17 Not only does the origins debate have enormous spiritual implications for every single person, but it is also greatly relevant to many of today’s scientific and political controversies.

References

1. University of Vermont. “Greenland Fossil Discovery Stuns Scientists and Confirms that Center of Ice Sheet Melted in Recent Past.” Phys.org. Posted on phys.org August 5, 2024, accessed August 5, 2024.
2. Bierman, P. R. et al. 2024. “Plant, Insect, and Fungi Fossils under the Center of Greenland’s Ice Sheet Are Evidence of Ice-Free Times.” PNAS. 121 (33): e2407465121.
3. Hebert, J. “Greenland: Ice-Free Not That Long Ago.” Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org April 26, 2021, accessed August 8, 2024.
4. Clarey, T. 2019. “Subduction Was Essential for the Ice Age.”Acts & Facts. 48 (3): 9.
5. Hebert, J. “New Evidence for Catastrophic Plate Tectonics (CPT)?” Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org July 8, 2024, accessed August 8, 2024.
6. Hebert, J. 2018. “The Bible Best Explains the Ice Age.” Acts & Facts. 47 (11): 10–13.
7. Hebert, J. 2019. “‘Missing’ Ice Age Forests: Evidence for the Flood?” Creation Research Society Quarterly. 56 (1): 48–51.
8. Hebert, J. 2020. “Missing Ice Age Forests Fit Flood/Ice Age Model.” Acts & Facts 49 (6): 16–19.
9. Hebert, J. “African Forest Evidence Fits Flood Ice Age Model.” Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org October 28, 2021, accessed August 8, 2024.
10. Oard, M. J. 2021. “Much Greater Cosmic Rays During the Ice Age and Before.” Creation Research Society Quarterly. 58 (1): 30–48.
11. Seely, P. H. 2003. “The GISP2 Ice Core: Ultimate Proof that Noah’s Flood Was Not Global.” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith. 55 (4): 252–260.
12. Oard, M. J. The Frozen Record. Santee, CA: Institute for Creation Research.
13. Hebert, J. 2014. “Ice Cores, Seafloor Sediments, and the Age of the Earth, Part 2.” Acts & Facts. 43 (7): 12–14.
14. Hebert, J. 2019. “Earth’s Thick Ice Sheets are Young.” Acts & Facts. 48 (2): 11–14.
15. Hebert, J. 2022. “ICR Ice Core Research Continues.” Acts & Facts. 51 (1): 10–13.
16. Hebert, J. 2019. “Climate Alarmism and the Age of the Earth.” Acts & Facts. 48 (4): 11–14.
17. Hebert, J. 2021. The Ice Age and Climate Change: A Creation Perspective. Dallas, TX: Institute for Creation Research.

Stage image: central-western Greenland
Stage image credit: Copyright © Algkalv. Used in accordance with federal copyright (fair use doctrine) law. Usage by ICR does not imply endorsement of copyright holder.

* Dr. Jake Hebert is a research associate at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Texas at Dallas.