Greenland’s Getting Greener
Yes indeed, Greenland’s starting to show it’s true colours, but not in a good way. Recently, scientists discovered that Greenland, which is nearly completely covered by ice, started melting…in fact, about 97% of Greenland’s massive ice sheet showed signs of melting, even in the coldest highest places. This incident is receiving mixed attention from the scientific community, as some are looking to climate change and global warming as a probable cause for the expansive amount of melting, and others are declaring that this incident is cyclical for Greenland, as the country experienced the same phenomenon about 150 years ago.
What we do know, is that, other than a piece of ice the size of Manhattan breaking off from the sheet, this melting is getting resource gathering companies excited at the idea of tapping this unexplored source. Yes, from the ashes of any terrible situation there always rises those who keep profitability closest to their hearts as opposed to humanity. Unfortunately, this could lead to another situation where overzealous foreign interest and militarization turns one country into another’s cash cow, while their resources are extorted and exported. However, hopefully the melting will not continue to catastrophic lengths and Greenland, and their valuable deposits of resources, can remain in tact. This could be a whole lot of speculating for nothing, so let’s hang back and see what comes next.
For more information on the newfound interest in Greenland’s resources, please visit the following article: http://grist.org/news/let-the-games-begin-the-rush-for-resources-in-greenland/
photo courtesy of christine zenino
