Scientists accidentally discovered a secret military base, which poses a significant threat (photos included).

Scientists conducting research on the Greenland ice sheet accidentally stumbled upon a secret American base. This refers to "Camp Century" — a site that housed nuclear weapons during the Cold War.

This is mentioned in a report by Earth Observatory NASA. It is noted that the discovery was made by scientist Chad Greene, who was monitoring the ice conditions on the island using the UAVSAR radar instrument.

"Our goal was to calibrate, validate, and explore the capabilities and limitations of UAVSAR for mapping the internal layers of the ice sheet and its base," he stated, adding that the scientists were not there in search of "Camp Century."

This base was constructed in 1959 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It consists of 21 tunnels stretching a total of 3 kilometers deep within the ice, earning it the alternative name "city under the ice."

The base was initially planned to accommodate a staff of 200 people and up to 600 medium-range ballistic missiles. Due to its remote location, it even had its own nuclear reactor.

It was originally thought that the base would be part of a network of launch sites capable of withstanding a first strike in the event of nuclear war. However, it later turned out that the ice was not as stable as previously believed, leading to the base being requested in an unfinished state by 1967. Over time, ice and snow continued to accumulate, causing solid structures to end up at least 30 meters below the surface.

Although access to the base is impossible, "Camp Century" has never "vanished from the radar." Moreover, its fate has once again begun to concern scientists.

The issue is that around 200,000 liters of petroleum products and approximately 24 million liters of untreated wastewater are still buried there. If the Greenland ice continues to melt, all this "treasure" could end up in the ocean and trigger an ecological disaster.

However, according to assessments made in 2021, there is no need to worry about ice loss over the base at least until the year 2100. Therefore, this site remains a "ticking time bomb" that future generations will have to deal with.

As previously reported, scientists have mapped locations on our planet where air temperatures will sharply rise in the coming years. Among them is Greenland.