When Trump invades Greenland, don't forget climate change!
Greenland's ice sheet is melting, and that's a very big deal.
Dr. Twila Moon, the deputy lead scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, is an expert on Earth’s cryosphere — that is, the regions of our planet so cold that they are perpetually covered in frozen water like ice, snow, slush and more. For this reason, if any scientist can claim to be an expert on Greenland, it is Moon.
That is why Moon, along with more than 350 similarly-qualified scientists, signed a recent public letter opposing President Trump’s ongoing bellicosity toward the large island, which is controlled by Denmark and inhabited by 58,000 people who either wish to stay that way or become independent.
None desire American rule.
“We are U.S.-based scientists who have conducted research in Kalaallit Nunaat / Greenland, and we write to express our solidarity and gratitude to Greenland’s people for years of friendship and partnership,” the statement proclaims. After summarizing their past public letters and Trump’s efforts to either “buy” or “take” Greenland, the scientists state that “Greenland belongs to its people,” quoting Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen who says “We have been America’s close and loyal friend for generations. Enough is enough. Greenland is our home and our territory.”
The letter adds, “Greenland deserves the world’s attention: It occupies a key position geopolitically and geophysically. As climate warms, rapid loss of Greenland’s ice affects coastal cities and communities worldwide. Greenland’s natural resources are abundant – and they belong to Greenland. But most importantly, Greenland is home to almost 57,000 people, the vast majority of whom have roots there that reach through countless generations.”
I’d like to focus for a moment on the sentence, “As climate warms, rapid loss of Greenland’s ice affects coastal cities and communities worldwide.” When we contemplate the massive industrial exploitation that Trump plans for the island, this detail must not be overlooked, as they are bound to exacerbate the greenhouse effect.
One major consequence of this process is a dangerous rise in global sea levels. Right now, melting from the Greenland Ice Sheet is adding roughly 0.7 millimeters per year to average sea levels worldwide. Scientists warn that if current projections hold, that number could climb to somewhere between 2 and 7 millimeters annually. Even small increases like these can have enormous consequences. As oceans rise, coastal communities face growing risks from flooding, storm surges, and extreme weather. In the United States, nearly 40 percent of the population lives in coastal or near-coastal regions that are especially vulnerable, including cities such as New York, Baltimore, Boston and Miami. On a global scale, eight of the world’s ten largest cities are located close to coastlines. Hundreds of millions of people are in harm’s way.
Accelerated melting in Greenland also threatens to disrupt the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. This system of ocean currents transports warm water from tropical regions near the equator northward into the Atlantic, helping to regulate temperatures across much of western Europe. It is one component of a much larger, interconnected system of ocean currents that circulate heat and salt around the globe, commonly referred to as the Global Ocean Conveyor Belt and more formally known as thermohaline circulation.
Under normal conditions, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation carries warm, salty water north through the Atlantic. As this water reaches cooler regions near the United Kingdom, it loses heat, becomes denser, and sinks into deep waters in the Labrador and Nordic Seas before flowing southward along the ocean floor toward the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. This continuous movement functions much like a planetary conveyor belt. However, if large amounts of fresh meltwater from Greenland slow or disrupt this process, the results could be highly unpredictable. There could be severe consequences for human societies and ecosystems across the planet.
Of course, our need to halt climate change — though of paramount consideration — is not the main takeaway from America’s imperialist overtures toward Greenland.
“Greenland’s people have been strong allies and friends to Americans for decades, despite painful colonial legacies like the forced relocation of Inughuit people from their ancestral homes to build Thule Air Base (now Pituffik Space Base) in 1953,” the scientists wrote in their public letter. “Americans owe Greenland our respect and deep gratitude. We acknowledge that scientific research also has a colonial history in Greenland, and pledge to be good partners, with guidance from Greenland’s researchers and by honoring Greenland’s National Research Strategy.”
That is the main point. But climate change is a not-inconsequential detail here too.
Back Seat Socialism
Back Seat Socialism is a column by Matthew Rozsa, who has been a professional journalist for more than 13 years. Currently, he is writing a book for Beacon Press, “Neurosocialism,” which argues that autistic people like the author struggle under capitalism, and explains how neurosocialism - the distinct anticapitalist perspective one develops by living as a neurodiverse individual - can be an important organizing principle for the left.