Small bugs point to surprising finding: ancient Greenland was warmer than once thought

The presence of phantom midges thousands of years ago made researchers revise past estimates — information that will prove useful as the world warms.

Science, even with its grand discoveries and shifting paradigms, can sometimes be dull work. It involves leaning over bits of tundra, meticulously separating one plant from the others, counting the number of mites on a square grid of plastic, and digging through ancient mud, scrutinizing it for scraps of tiny bugs that were once abuzz in prehistoric patches of water.