Was the Arctic Ocean ice-free 8000 years ago?

The icecap in the Arctic is getting both smaller and thinner. Within a few decades, the Arctic Ocean could be completely ice-free during the summer, in spite of the fact that Earth should be heading for a geologically cooler period. This contradictory development is caused by global warming. Yet the Arctic has in fact been ice-free once before, between 8500 and 6000 years ago. This can now be proven by a group of researchers, with the help of studies of driftwood and dykes on the world’s northernmost coastline in the north of Greenland. An international research group including several researchers from Lund University has carried out extensive field studies along the coast of Greenland. The aim of the studies was to better understand climate and environmental development in this area during and after the last ice age, a period of development that covers approximately 20 000 years.