The Memory of Darkness, Light, and Ice

If the ice sheet covering Greenland melted, global sea levels would rise 21 feet (7 meters), profoundly impacting our planet. How, why, and when could this happen? The Memory of Darkness, Light, and Ice is an award-winning documentary film about a time long ago when Greenland was greener, and what that means for our future. The film details the startling discovery of a long-lost sediment core pulled from the depths of a Cold War-era military base in Greenland.

This sediment unveils an ancient ecosystem and holds the key to crucial science of the melting Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS), uncovering the very real fact that the Greenland Ice Sheet has fully receded in the past, and with our C02 levels double of what they were then, the ice will melt again, raising sea levels across the globe.

The finding that the ice sheet melted in the past completely transforms our understanding of the stability of the Greenland Ice Sheet. The research itself is detailed in a comprehensive paper in Science, and has received world-wide success. The film was funded by the National Science Foundation as a collaborative research grant across multiple academic institutions and highlights cutting-edge science.