I clearly recall the factoid from high school geography that Iceland was purposefully deceptively named and actually is quite green, and that Greenland is largely a huge slab of ice. Though not quite as icy as it used to be. But more on less ice later.
Greenland, lodged conveniently between the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, is the world’s largest island, though very sparsely populated, in part due to the frigid climate.
Technically part of the North American continent, 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 the southern part of Greenland, as well as 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 huge 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 Constitution of Denmark, 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 of operation in Greenland — Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base, and Camp Century — primarily used for Arctic research but 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 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 per year, with that number 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, as well as oil and natural gas have become accessible for mining and export.
Most of these rare earth minerals are now largely being sourced out of China.
Greenland and its large ice mass also serve as the key engine as well as 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 even 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 that gripped the nation, I couldn’t help but think that freshly inaugurated President Trump will make visits to Greenland and Denmark among his early priorities. And given that the people of Greenland and Denmark largely 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.
