Greenland Holds Important Position in a Warming World
2025-01-16
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1Greenland is the world's largest island and a self-governed territory of Denmark.
2About 57,000 people live there, mainly along its coasts.
3Most of Greenland lies north of the Arctic Circle, under thick sheets of ice.
4The island plays a large part in the weather experienced by billions of people every day and in climate changes around the planet, experts say.
5American President-elect Donald Trump is expressing interest in buying Greenland from Denmark.
6He said something similar during his first term in office as well. The United States has a large military base on the island.
7Geologists say Greenland has huge amounts of oil and natural gas below the ice and valuable elements known as rare earth minerals.
8Rare earth minerals are needed in communication technologies, including phones.
9Most of these resources are trapped under Greenland's ice.
10However, warming temperatures in recent years have increased melting on the island.
11As more ice melts, some of these resources may become easier to reach.
12Geoff Dabelko is a security and environment professor at Ohio University.
13He thinks other countries are becoming interested in Greenland because China is currently the supplier of more than half of the world's rare Earth minerals.
14From 1992 to 2020, Greenland lost an average of 169 billion metric tons of ice each year, with losses reaching 444 billion metric tons in 2019.
15Mark Serreze is director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado.
16He told The Associated Press that melting from Greenland will be a central issue through the 21st century.
17That is because melting ice adds to rising sea levels. Serreze noted that the amount of melting will likely increase in the future.
18Greenland also serves as the engine for an important ocean current that influences Earth's climate in many ways, including storm activity.
19The current is called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC.
20The current is slowing down because more fresh water from Greenland's melting ice is entering the ocean, Serreze said.
21A shutdown of the current could lead to long-term freezes in Europe and parts of North America.
22"If this global current system were to slow substantially or even collapse . . .as we know it has done in the past - normal temperature and precipitation patterns around the globe would change drastically," said climate scientist Jennifer Francis of the Woodwell Climate Research Center, a non-profit based in the American state of Massachusetts.
23She added that the changes would have very damaging effects on farming and ecosystems.
24As more ice melts, Greenland is also changing color from the white of ice to the blue and green of water and land.
25These darker colors hold more heat from the sun and can increase the speed of warming.
26Greenland lies in between northern Canada, northern Europe, and Russia.
27That area may become more valuable to countries if melting in the Arctic Ocean continues to increase and more ships pass through the area.
28I'm Andrew Smith.
1Greenland is the world's largest island and a self-governed territory of Denmark. About 57,000 people live there, mainly along its coasts. Most of Greenland lies north of the Arctic Circle, under thick sheets of ice. 2The island plays a large part in the weather experienced by billions of people every day and in climate changes around the planet, experts say. 3American President-elect Donald Trump is expressing interest in buying Greenland from Denmark. He said something similar during his first term in office as well. The United States has a large military base on the island. 4Greenland's valuable resources 5Geologists say Greenland has huge amounts of oil and natural gas below the ice and valuable elements known as rare earth minerals. Rare earth minerals are needed in communication technologies, including phones. 6Most of these resources are trapped under Greenland's ice. However, warming temperatures in recent years have increased melting on the island. As more ice melts, some of these resources may become easier to reach. 7Geoff Dabelko is a security and environment professor at Ohio University. He thinks other countries are becoming interested in Greenland because China is currently the supplier of more than half of the world's rare Earth minerals. 8Melting ice 9From 1992 to 2020, Greenland lost an average of 169 billion metric tons of ice each year, with losses reaching 444 billion metric tons in 2019. 10Mark Serreze is director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado. He told The Associated Press that melting from Greenland will be a central issue through the 21st century. That is because melting ice adds to rising sea levels. Serreze noted that the amount of melting will likely increase in the future. 11Greenland also serves as the engine for an important ocean current that influences Earth's climate in many ways, including storm activity. The current is called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC. The current is slowing down because more fresh water from Greenland's melting ice is entering the ocean, Serreze said. 12A shutdown of the current could lead to long-term freezes in Europe and parts of North America. 13"If this global current system were to slow substantially or even collapse . . .as we know it has done in the past - normal temperature and precipitation patterns around the globe would change drastically," said climate scientist Jennifer Francis of the Woodwell Climate Research Center, a non-profit based in the American state of Massachusetts. 14She added that the changes would have very damaging effects on farming and ecosystems. 15As more ice melts, Greenland is also changing color from the white of ice to the blue and green of water and land. These darker colors hold more heat from the sun and can increase the speed of warming. 16Greenland lies in between northern Canada, northern Europe, and Russia. That area may become more valuable to countries if melting in the Arctic Ocean continues to increase and more ships pass through the area. 17I'm Andrew Smith. 18Seth Borenstein wrote this story for The Associated Press. Andrew Smith adapted it for VOA Learning English. 19__________________________________________ 20Words in This Story 21sheet -n. a wide layer over the surface of something else 22global -adj. referring to the whole world 23substantially -adv. very much, greatly 24precipitation -n. rain, snow, or other forms of water that falls from clouds 25pattern -n. an event or shape that repeats in the same way 26drastically -adv. very much, in an extreme way