Danish ice-core researcher Jørgen Peder Steffensen says scientific work at the US-run Summit Station on the Greenland ice sheet is being pushed into the background as American climate research funding shrinks.
DR reported on August 19, 2026 that US support for climate-related research in Greenland is being cut back. Steffensen, a professor at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, said scientific activity from Summit has clearly fallen. Per his account, a great deal of money is locked into logistics.
Summit Station lies roughly 30 kilometers west of the highest point of the ice sheet. It is funded by the US National Science Foundation. According to Steffensen, recent spending has gone into flying steel elements and equipment up for a new station, leaving little room for science.
He described the rebuilding project as a political signal to the outside world. In his words to DR, the United States wants to show that it sits in the middle of the ice sheet.
DR also cited a new report from Arctic Hub in Greenland. It found that the number of research publications about Greenland fell 23 percent between 2015 and 2024. American publications on Greenland within the physical sciences related to climate change dropped 32 percent from 2021 onward, and Canada published the most Greenland research in 2024.
Earlier in August 2026, the Trump administration withdrew support for NOAA’s annual report on environmental change in the Arctic, which has appeared since 2006. CNN reported on August 10, 2026 that NOAA said coordination of the 2026 Arctic Report Card would not be facilitated through the agency. NOAA added that previously collected data would remain publicly available.
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PBS News reported on August 13, 2026 that the end of funding for the report was the latest step in a broader effort to curtail climate-related science. Carbon Brief reported on February 20, 2026 that Summit Station was among the US-run Greenland stations affected by NSF funding pressures.
In its budget materials for the 2026 fiscal year, the National Science Foundation stated that modernization and recapitalization of Summit Station would continue. The agency also said it coordinates Arctic work with other agencies and international partners.
AP reported on June 2, 2026 that the NSF planned to dismantle much of a large ocean-observing system. Instruments would be removed from Greenland by 2027, and the agency described the move as a descoping.
Steffensen told DR that American support has been central to Danish fieldwork on the ice. The United States operates Hercules aircraft fitted with skis, which can land on the ice sheet so researchers can drill ice cores two to three kilometers down. That work has produced a climate curve for Greenland covering the past 120,000 to 125,000 years, used worldwide as a reference.
Danish researchers flew with US aircraft during the summer without problems, he said. He called the funding situation a warning to the kingdom and to Europe, and said free research must be protected.
