I recall the factoid from high school geography that Iceland was purposefully deceptively named and is quite green. Greenland is essentially a massive slab of ice, though not quite as icy as it used to be.
But more on less ice later.
Greenland is the world's largest island, conveniently lodged between the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. It is very sparsely populated, in part due to its frigid climate.
Technically, it is part of the North American continent, and historically, it has been most associated with Europe, most specifically Denmark. Greenland is one of two autonomous territories of the Kingdom of Denmark, the other being the Faroe Islands. Residents of both territories are full citizens of Denmark and the European Union. The capital and largest city in Greenland is Nuuk, which rhymes with 'book.'
Most of Greenland’s population lives near its southwest coast (just under 57,000 residents in 2022), as three-quarters of Greenland is covered by ice and permafrost.
Norsemen settled in the southern part of Greenland and nearby Iceland at the beginning of the 10th century. The 13th century there witnessed the arrival of the Inuit Indians, who live in the more northern climes of the vast icy island.
When Norway and Denmark split in 1814, Greenland was ceded to the Danish Crown, where it has remained since. In 1953, it was more fully integrated into the Danish Constitution, and in 1979, Greenland was given home rule. Greenlanders furthered that independence with a 2008 self-governance referendum.
The U.S. Military has two bases in Greenland: Pituffik Space Base, formerly Thule Air Base, and Camp Century. Camp Century was primarily used for Arctic research but was largely abandoned in 1967 due to ice flow movement.
More recently, much of the permafrost and thick ice across Greenland has been melting. Temperatures are rising there at a rate four times faster than most of the rest of the world. If most of Greenland’s ice were to melt and continue falling into the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, estimates are that world sea levels would rise by 24 feet, reshaping coastlines across the eastern seaboard and Europe.
Since 1992, Greenland has been losing roughly 182 billion tons of ice annually, and this loss has been accelerating. In 2019, the measured loss of ice flow was 489 billion tons. As Greenland ice has melted, rare earth and rich mineral deposits, including uranium, oil, and natural gas, have become accessible for mining and export. Most of these rare earth minerals are now largely being sourced from China.
Greenland and its large ice mass also serve as the key engine and an on/off switch for a massive global current that influences Earth’s climate, particularly winter storms and hurricane activity. Scientists and researchers familiar with Greenland speak of Empire State Building-sized hunks of ice just crumbling off jagged coastal cliffs and falling into the ocean. In meteorological terms, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is slowing down due to the freshwater being dumped into the North Atlantic by Greenland’s melting ice floes.
From space, Greenland is changing color from white ice to the blue and green of the surrounding oceans and land mass underneath the ice. These darker hues also absorb more energy and heat, further melting the ice, from above and below.
As the Trump inauguration was moved inside due to the latest massive freeze gripping the nation, I couldn’t help but think that the newly inaugurated President Trump will visit Greenland and Denmark among his early priorities. Given that the people of Greenland and Denmark broadly look to the U.S. for their national defense, I suspect those U.S. mission expansion talks will be productive.
However, I do not believe that Greenland or Canada will become U.S. states or that the “Gulf of America” will come to fruition. Trump is a brander and a deal maker, proposing the outlandish to gain attention and leverage. Kickstarting the U.S. economy and several already stated priorities will likely top his second-term agenda.