Latest news with #GeologicalSurveyofDenmark
The Herald Scotland
03-05-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Why Greenland's mineral resources are critical to Trump administration
While the island's role in the U.S.'s national and international security remains important, its vast mineral wealth - resources critical to modern industries where China holds near-monopoly power - has become a key driver of U.S. interest. In April, Trump signed two executive orders aimed at securing critical minerals: one investigating the need for tariffs on mineral imports and another accelerating offshore mining. The island in the Arctic, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark, has been of interest to Trump before. In 2019, during Trump's first term as president, he expressed interest in buying Greenland. What makes Greenland's minerals significant? Though ice covers about 80% of the island, its ice-free zone encompasses about 250,000 square miles and hosts many mineral deposits, including over 30 critical raw minerals, according to a 2023 report from the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. Some of the most notable include graphite, copper, nickel, zinc, tungsten and lithium - essential industrial minerals for making modern technologies. "It's a treasure," Anne Merrild, a professor and head of the Sustainability and Planning Department at Denmark's Aalborg University, described the island she grew up on. Besides the security issue and potential for Greenland to become a transit point for trade and military interactions, Merrild points to its rich mineral resources as a major reason why Trump is so interested in the island. "I don't expect it to be the need for minerals that drives this interest, but rather the opportunity to control who else has access to the resources," Merrild said. While the United States was once a leading mineral supplier, China now dominates the global market. By controlling access to the potential mineral resources in Greenland, the Trump administration sought to prevent its geopolitical rivals, like China, from tightening its grip on global supply chains. What are critical minerals? The Energy Act of 2020 defines a "critical mineral" as a non-fuel mineral essential to U.S. economic or national security, with a supply chain susceptible to disruption. These minerals are vital for manufacturing products, renewable energy development and infrastructure. They are key components for producing everything from smartphones, computers, and electric vehicle batteries to wind turbines, solar panels, and advanced military systems. The United States Geological Survey published a list of 50 critical minerals in 2022. In an executive order published April 15, the White House added uranium to the list of critical minerals. Though not formally designated critical, the White House prioritized offshore mining of copper, potash and gold in an April 24 executive order. From mining to processing, China dominates today's global critical mineral market. Based on a report from the USGS published earlier this year, China was the top producer of 30 critical minerals in 2024, and the U.S. relies heavily on mineral imports from China and Canada. What's the status of mining in Greenland right now? Merrild said there's "almost no mining activity" in Greenland for critical minerals right now due to challenges like harsh weather, limited workforce and high costs of transportation and infrastructure, making it "really an untapped resource." Tapping into Greenland's rich resources would require big companies with the financial capacity to invest in the initial exploration phase. "If they do so," Merrild said. "I think it could contribute significantly to the Greenlandic economy, and it could be really good for developing the infrastructure around the mines." But Merrild emphasizes the importance of development with "care" as mining activities could "potentially cause significant negative impact" to the people and the environment. "It would be really sad if Greenland was sacrificed for the sake of its mineral resources to other parts of the world," Merrild said. Read more: Why Trump wants Greenland: Military security, rare minerals, trade routes, for starters What do Greenlanders think? Greenland is about three times the size of Texas but has a population of just 56,000 - about the same as Carson City, Nevada. Most of its residents don't want their land to be a part of the United States, according to a poll in January. Eighty-five percent of Greenlanders rejected becoming Americans, while 6% said yes. The rest were undecided. Merrild, whose parents and siblings are living in Greenland, expressed concerns about an unknown political issue. Merrild said her parents are considering moving to Denmark because "they're afraid of what will happen if the United States takes over Greenland, if they will have the same rights, and so on."
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists deploy high-speed drones to observe critical issue in extreme locations: 'We'll be able to continuously monitor'
The cracking, melting expanse of ice in the Arctic tells a story that scientists must understand to adapt to our warming planet. With new drone technology, they have a new way to monitor it. Scientists will test their high-speed drones in Greenland in May to see if the technology can effectively provide crucial data about melting ice sheets, New Scientist reported. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, Greenland's ice sheets are an important source of measurements for Earth's changing climate. In 2023, 80 gigatons of Greenland's ice sheet melted, according to the United Nations, citing the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. NASA describes 1 gigatonne (about 1.1 gigatons) as the weight of 10,000 fully loaded aircraft carriers. Marble, the company responsible for inventing the drone, is partnering with researchers at the University of Bergen on a project supported by £2 million (more than $2.6 million) from the United Kingdom's Advanced Research and Invention Agency. The drones must be tested because the Arctic is a harsh environment. However, if they work, scientists can receive detailed, frequent images of the ice-covered landscape. Current technology is not effective enough to provide the data that scientists need to properly keep an eye on the ice's thickness. As Kerim Nisancioglu of the University of Bergen told New Scientist, "Now we'll be able to continuously monitor." The ice in Greenland and the rate at which it melts are important for predicting various elements of our changing climate. Understanding Greenland's ice melt is crucial for forecasting sea level rise. According to New Scientist, losing all the ice in Greenland would cause the oceans to rise by over 7 meters, or around 23 feet. Do you think America could ever go zero-waste? Never Not anytime soon Maybe in some states Definitely Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. While this ice likely wouldn't melt all at once, the melting indicates a larger pattern. This pattern also fuels stronger, less predictable weather events. From heat waves and wildfires to hurricanes and floods, extreme weather has always existed. However, scientists agree that these events have been supercharged by climate change. This makes them even more dangerous to our communities. estimates that 2024's extreme weather included 27 events that cost $1 billion or more, and these events led to at least 568 deaths. Many organizations are working hard to monitor and mitigate the impacts of our warming planet. The Advanced Research and Invention Agency, which backs this drone project, is putting £81 million (more than $107 million) toward projects that monitor climate tipping points. We can all play a part in reducing reliance on dirty energy sources that trap heat in the atmosphere. One option is swapping gas-powered tools for electric ones. We can also move to renewable energy such as wind or solar panels whenever possible. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Nahar Net
21-02-2025
- Science
- Nahar Net
Climate change is shrinking glaciers faster than ever, with 7 trillion tons lost since 2000
by Naharnet Newsdesk 21 February 2025, 14:35 Climate change is accelerating the melting of the world's mountain glaciers, according to a massive new study that found them shrinking more than twice as fast as in the early 2000s. The world's glaciers lost ice at the rate of about 255 billion tons (231 billion metric tons) annual from 2000 to 2011, but that quickened to about 346 billion tons (314 billion metric tons) annually over about the next decade, according to the study in this week's journal Nature. And the last few years, the melt has accelerated even more, hitting a record 604 billion tons (548 billion metric tons) lost in 2023, the last year analyzed. The study drew on an international effort that included 233 estimates of changes in glacier weight. In all, the world's glaciers have lost more than 7 trillion tons of ice (6.5 trillion metric tons) since 2000, according to the study. "The thing that people should be aware of and perhaps worried about is that yes, the glaciers are indeed retreating and disappearing as we said they would. The rate of that loss seems to be accelerating," said William Colgan, a glaciologist for the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland and one of about 60 authors of the study. Glaciers in Alaska are melting at the fastest rate of any of the 19 regions studied, losing about 67 billion tons (61 billion metric tons) of ice a year, producing the biggest net ice loss, the study found. In the past 24 years, Central Europe's glaciers have lost the highest percentage of ice of any region, now 39% smaller than they were in 2000, the paper said. Colgan said he worries most about the Alps because "elevated summer temperatures have been hammering the Alps. " Fifteen years ago, scientists were worried most about the Andes and the Patagonia glaciers, but the Alps have shrunk so fast they could eventually disappear, Colgan said. "Glaciers are apolitical and unbiased sentinels of climate change, and their decline paints a clear picture of accelerated warming," said Gwenn Flowers, a professor of Earth Sciences at Simon Fraser University in Canada, who wasn't part of the study. University of Colorado ice scientist Ted Scambos, who also wasn't part of the study, said glaciers shrank and grew in the past for local, well-understood reasons that were not climate change. What's happening now is different and clear, he said: "It's due to greenhouse gas increases caused directly by coal, oil, and natural gas burning. ... No amount of rhetoric, tweeting, or proclamation will change that." Scambos, Flowers and other outside scientists called the assessment sobering and accurate but not surprising. Colgan said that many places — such as those in the U.S. West — are seeing extra water now from fast-melting glaciers and benefiting from that boost, but that will soon disappear as the glaciers melt beyond a point of no return. Melting glaciers contribute more to sea level rise than ice loss in either Greenland or Antarctica. Only the expansion of water as it warms plays a bigger role in sea level rise, the paper said. The overall glacier loss rate is similar, if maybe slightly less, than that found by earlier and less comprehensive studies. But this new work will probably trigger new predictions that will be even gloomier in the future because of better information and worsening warming, Colgan said. "If you're losing 5.5% of the global ice volume in just over 20 years, clearly that's not sustainable," Colgan said. "That's going to catch up with you." The more than 600 billion tons of glacier loss in 2023 "sounds incredible now, but it might sound pretty normal in 10 years from now," Colgan said. "Mountain glaciers as a whole can flip into collective ice loss pretty darn quick."
CBC
21-02-2025
- Science
- CBC
Climate change is shrinking glaciers faster than ever, with 6.5 trillion tonnes lost since 2000
Climate change is accelerating the melting of the world's mountain glaciers, according to a massive new study that found them shrinking more than twice as fast as in the early 2000s. The world's glaciers lost ice at the rate of about 231 billion tonnes annually from 2000 to 2011, but that quickened to about 314 billion tonnes annually over about the next decade, according to the peer-reviewed study published in the journal Nature this week. The last few years, the melt has accelerated even more, hitting a record 548 billion tonnes lost in 2023, the last year analyzed. The study drew on an international effort that included 233 estimates of changes in glacier weight. In all, the world's glaciers have lost more than 6.5 trillion tonnes since 2000, according to the study. "The thing that people should be aware of and perhaps worried about is that yes, the glaciers are indeed retreating and disappearing as we said they would. The rate of that loss seems to be accelerating," said William Colgan, a glaciologist for the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland and one of about 60 authors of the study. Glaciers in Alaska are melting at the fastest rate of any of the 19 regions studied, losing about 61 billion tonnes of ice a year, producing the biggest net ice loss, the study found. In the past 24 years, Central Europe's glaciers have lost the highest percentage of ice of any region, now 39% smaller than they were in 2000, the paper said. Colgan said he worries most about the Alps because "elevated summer temperatures have been hammering the Alps." Fifteen years ago, scientists were worried most about the Andes and the Patagonia glaciers, but the Alps have shrunk so fast they could eventually disappear, Colgan said. "Glaciers are apolitical and unbiased sentinels of climate change, and their decline paints a clear picture of accelerated warming," said Gwenn Flowers, a professor of Earth Sciences at Simon Fraser University in Canada, who wasn't part of the study. University of Colorado ice scientist Ted Scambos, who also wasn't part of the study, said glaciers shrank and grew in the past for local, well-understood reasons that were not climate change. What's happening now is different and clear, he said: "It's due to greenhouse gas increases caused directly by coal, oil and natural gas burning.... No amount of rhetoric, tweeting, or proclamation will change that." Scambos, Flowers and other outside scientists called the assessment sobering and accurate but not surprising. Colgan said that many places — such as those in the U.S. West — are seeing extra water now from fast-melting glaciers and benefiting from that boost, but that will soon disappear as the glaciers melt beyond a point of no return. Melting glaciers contribute more to sea level rise than ice loss in either Greenland or Antarctica. Only the expansion of water as it warms plays a bigger role in sea level rise, the paper said. The overall glacier loss rate is similar, if maybe slightly less, than that found by earlier and less comprehensive studies. But this new work will probably trigger new predictions that will be even gloomier in the future because of better information and worsening warming, Colgan said. "If you're losing 5.5 per cent of the global ice volume in just over 20 years, clearly that's not sustainable," Colgan said. "That's going to catch up with you." The nearly 550 billion tonnes of glacier loss in 2023 "sounds incredible now, but it might sound pretty normal in 10 years from now," Colgan said. "Mountain glaciers as a whole can flip into collective ice loss pretty darn quick."
Washington Post
21-02-2025
- Science
- Washington Post
Climate change is shrinking glaciers faster than ever, with 7 trillion tons lost since 2000
Climate change is accelerating the melting of the world's mountain glaciers, according to a massive new study that found them shrinking more than twice as fast as in the early 2000s. The world's glaciers lost ice at the rate of about 255 billion tons (231 billion metric tons) annual from 2000 to 2011, but that quickened to about 346 billion tons (314 billion metric tons) annually over about the next decade, according to the study in this week's journal Nature. And the last few years, the melt has accelerated even more, hitting a record 604 billion tons (548 billion metric tons) lost in 2023, the last year analyzed. The study drew on an international effort that included 233 estimates of changes in glacier weight. In all, the world's glaciers have lost more than 7 trillion tons of ice (6.5 trillion metric tons) since 2000, according to the study. 'The thing that people should be aware of and perhaps worried about is that yes, the glaciers are indeed retreating and disappearing as we said they would. The rate of that loss seems to be accelerating,' said William Colgan, a glaciologist for the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland and one of about 60 authors of the study. Glaciers in Alaska are melting at the fastest rate of any of the 19 regions studied, losing about 67 billion tons (61 billion metric tons) of ice a year, producing the biggest net ice loss, the study found. In the past 24 years, Central Europe's glaciers have lost the highest percentage of ice of any region, now 39% smaller than they were in 2000, the paper said. Colgan said he worries most about the Alps because 'elevated summer temperatures have been hammering the Alps. ' Fifteen years ago, scientists were worried most about the Andes and the Patagonia glaciers, but the Alps have shrunk so fast they could eventually disappear , Colgan said. 'Glaciers are apolitical and unbiased sentinels of climate change , and their decline paints a clear picture of accelerated warming,' said Gwenn Flowers, a professor of Earth Sciences at Simon Fraser University in Canada, who wasn't part of the study. University of Colorado ice scientist Ted Scambos, who also wasn't part of the study, said glaciers shrank and grew in the past for local, well-understood reasons that were not climate change. What's happening now is different and clear, he said: 'It's due to greenhouse gas increases caused directly by coal, oil, and natural gas burning. ... No amount of rhetoric, tweeting, or proclamation will change that.' Scambos, Flowers and other outside scientists called the assessment sobering and accurate but not surprising . Colgan said that many places — such as those in the U.S. West — are seeing extra water now from fast-melting glaciers and benefiting from that boost, but that will soon disappear as the glaciers melt beyond a point of no return. Melting glaciers contribute more to sea level rise than ice loss in either Greenland or Antarctica . Only the expansion of water as it warms plays a bigger role in sea level rise, the paper said. The overall glacier loss rate is similar, if maybe slightly less, than that found by earlier and less comprehensive studies. But this new work will probably trigger new predictions that will be even gloomier in the future because of better information and worsening warming, Colgan said. 'If you're losing 5.5% of the global ice volume in just over 20 years, clearly that's not sustainable,' Colgan said. 'That's going to catch up with you.' The more than 600 billion tons of glacier loss in 2023 'sounds incredible now, but it might sound pretty normal in 10 years from now,' Colgan said. 'Mountain glaciers as a whole can flip into collective ice loss pretty darn quick.' ___ Follow Seth Borenstein on X at @borenbears ___ Read more of AP's climate coverage at ___ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at .
