While the rapid melting of glaciers may portend doom for Earth, it has given rise to a new field of study known as glacial archaeology. Warmer temperatures are allowing archaeologists to safely excavate in locations that were previously inaccessible due to melting ice, which has been holding artifacts, corpses, and viruses for millions of years.

Presently, glacial ice covers around 10% of the Earth. The chemical functions like a time machine, returning frozen items to their original condition. Glacial archaeologists may safely study buried artifacts without worrying about their condition deteriorating over time. Norway, Yellowstone National Park, and Siberia are three of the most fruitful locations.

For glacial archaeology, nothing beats the 1991 discovery of Otzi, an ancient person who lived sometime around the fourth millennium BCE and was found in a melting glacier in the Italian Alps. However, this is not the only significant discovery made in the recent two decades.