Greenland news stories on Newser

Meteorites Brought Gold to Earth

Mark Russell — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 06:02:23 CDT

You can thank meteorites for most of the gold in Earth's crust, reports the BBC . In fact, 22 billion billion tons of asteroid material that showered our planet 3.9 billion years ago were responsible for the gold, platinum, and other precious metals there (and, by extrapolation, for Glenn Beck's...

Vikings Left Greenland Because of ... Climate Change

Matt Cantor — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 11:01:54 CDT

We’re far from the first humans to grapple with climate change: It seems several populations were forced to leave Greenland when things got too cold for comfort, according to a new study. The Saqqaq people arrived in Greenland some 4,500 years ago, and were gone when weather cooled in...

Greenland, Antarctic Ice Melting Faster Than Expected

Kevin Spak — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 14:08:00 CST

The ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica are melting significantly faster than previously estimated, according to a new international report led by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Unless the trend is reversed, the melting ice sheets will push global sea levels up six inches by 2050, the scientists found.

Did Greenland Sun Rise 2 Days Early?

Evann Gastaldo — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 12:15:05 CST

Residents of Ilulissat, Greenland, live in darkness for a large chunk of winter—but that chunk was two days shorter this year. The sun reportedly rose on Jan. 11, instead of its normal date of Jan. 13, the Huffington Post reports. Of course, theories were quick to surface, and one...

Vast Iceberg Could Cause Another Titanic

Kevin Spak — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:20:28 CDT

Researchers are frantically calculating the trajectory of the 100-square-mile island of ice that broke off a Greenland glacier recently, afraid that it could easily drift down into the heavily-trafficked waters where another Greenland iceberg sank the Titanic. The chunk of ice is four times the size of Manhattan, and “so...

Huge Ice Sheet Breaks Off Greenland Glacier

John Johnson — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 12:36:02 CDT

A massive chunk of ice has broken off one of Greenland's biggest glaciers. "Chunk" may not be the word—it's 100 square miles, or four times the size of Manhattan, says a University of Delaware researcher. It's also the biggest piece of ice to—in the scientific jargon—"calve" in...

Glaciers May Vanish in 'Geologic Instant'

Ambreen Ali — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:20:00 CDT

New data about a prehistoric Canadian glacier that rapidly vanished is giving scientists a stronger model to predict the radical effects of climate change. It's very possible that the same conditions could quickly shrink today's larger ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, prompting sea levels to soar in a "geographic...

Study Predicts Rising Seas in Northeast

Harry Kimball — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:25:30 CDT

Increases in sea level caused by climate change could be dramatically larger than the world average in the densely populated Northeast, LiveScience reports. A new study shows that the melting Greenland ice cap and ocean dynamics will push 12 to 20 more inches of water toward New England and Canada...

Global Warming Will Buoy East Coast Sea Level

Katherine Thompson — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 12:06:49 CDT

The effect of climate change on Atlantic currents will boost the threat of flooding along the US East Coast more than glacial melting alone, a study predicts. New York, Boston, and Washington, DC, are expected to experience more shoreline encroachment and have higher risk of storm surges as changing currents...