It’s changing

Like the sea ice that surrounds it, the ice that blankets Greenland’s vast interior is also melting. Nearly 2,000 square miles’ worth of ice has disappeared from the island’s surface over the past four decades. NASA refers to Greenland as a “canary in a coal mine” for climate change.

Greenland’s melting ice is one the biggest drivers of global sea level rise. It’s also causing a key ocean current known as the “great global ocean conveyor belt” to slow down, which could have huge implications for weather around the world.

Flourish
But where climate experts see reasons to worry about Greenland’s ice melt, others see opportunity. That’s because Greenland is home to huge yet largely untapped stores of rare earth minerals needed to make a wide range of high-tech products — everything from smartphones to computers to fighter jets to green energy technologies.

The U.S. used to be the world’s top producer of rare earth minerals. That title today goes to China. To counter China’s dominance, U.S. leaders have moved to increase the United States’ own mineral mining, while also working to open up foreign sources for the materials. Greenland’s receding ice could set off a mineral “gold rush,” as large deposits of high-value minerals become accessible for the first time.

Greenland currently puts strict limits on mining within its territory and has banned oil and gas extraction entirely over environmental concerns. Full command of the island could give the U.S. the power to roll back those restrictions, make larger swaths of the island available for development and seize a larger share of the profits that result.

Many Greenlanders see a ramped-up mining industry as a key to their economic future, but even local support might not be enough to turn the dream of a mineral windfall into a reality. Foreigners have been coming to Greenland seeking to extract its riches for centuries, only to be turned away by its harsh terrain and brutal climate. Some experts believe that even with modern technology, tapping Greenland’s mineral resources may be too difficult and expensive to make large-scale mining economically viable.