VOA新闻杂志2025--Greenland Holds Important Position in a Warming World

Greenland 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 Arctic¹ Circle, under thick sheets of ice.

The island plays a large part in the weather experienced by billions of people every day and in climate changes around the planet, experts say.

American President-elect Donald Trump² 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.

Greenland's valuable resources

Geologists³ 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.

Most 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.

Geoff Dabelko is a security and environment professor at Ohio University. He thinks other countries are becoming interested in Greenland because China is currently⁴ the supplier of more than half of the world's rare Earth minerals.

Melting ice

From 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.

Mark Serreze is director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder⁵, 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 noted⁶ that the amount of melting will likely increase in the future.

Greenland 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 Overturning⁷ Circulation⁸, or AMOC. The current is slowing down because more fresh water from Greenland's melting ice is entering the ocean, Serreze said.

A shutdown of the current could lead to long-term freezes in Europe and parts of North America.

"If this global current system were to slow substantially or even collapse⁹ . . .as we know it has done in the past - normal temperature and precipitation patterns around the globe would change drastically¹⁰," said climate scientist Jennifer Francis of the Woodwell Climate Research Center, a non-profit based in the American state of Massachusetts.

She added that the changes would have very damaging effects on farming and ecosystems¹¹.

As 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.

Greenland 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.

I'm Andrew Smith.

Seth Borenstein wrote this story for The Associated Press. Andrew Smith adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

sheet -n. a wide layer over the surface of something else

global -adj. referring to the whole world

substantially -adv. very much, greatly

precipitation -n. rain, snow, or other forms of water that falls from clouds

pattern -n. an event or shape that repeats in the same way

drastically -adv. very much, in an extreme way

1 Arctic   

adj.北极的；n.北极

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• The sort of animal lived in the Arctic Circle.这种动物生活在北极圈里。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 geologists   

地质学家，地质学者( geologist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Geologists uncovered the hidden riches. 地质学家发现了地下的宝藏。
• Geologists study the structure of the rocks. 地质学家研究岩石结构。

4 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

5 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 overturning   

n.推翻

参考例句：

• Feng Yun-ching answered hastily, springing up and all but overturning the opiumlamp as he did so. 冯云卿陡的跳起来说，几乎带翻了烟盘里的烟灯。 来自子夜部分
• Overturning and sliding are seldom a factor in the design of arch dam. 拱坝设计中很少考虑倾覆和滑动的问题。

8 circulation   

n.循环，流通，传播，发行，发行量

参考例句：

• There is a large circulation in the musical public.在音乐界销路很广。
• The ideas have been in circulation for some time.这些想法已经流行了一段时间。

9 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

10 drastically   

ad.极端地，严厉地

参考例句：

• Within a year the party had drastically overhauled its structure. 一年内这个政党已大刀阔斧地整顿了结构。
• Next year's budget will have to be drastically pruned. 下一年度的预算将大幅度削减。

11 ecosystems   

n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样，从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句