Farmers and researchers in Greenland are beginning to have success growing vegetables on the large island north of sixty degrees latitude. Thanks to increasing temperatures in Greenland, the New York Times reports that, "A Greenlandic supermarket is stocking locally grown cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage this year for the first time. Eight sheep farmers are growing potatoes commercially. Five more are experimenting with vegetables. And Kenneth Hoeg, the region’s chief agriculture adviser, says he does not see why southern Greenland cannot eventually be full of vegetable farms and viable forests." I suppose Greenland's blooming agricultural activity ought to be added to the list of advantages of global warming.
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Yay Greenlanders get to grow Veggies. Meanwhile the Russians take over the North Pole and more and more land turns into desert yay global warming!
Matt, I believe you had an article a few months back that says that last summer there were direct flights to Greenland from Baltimore about twice a week. It’s good to know that the scientists and other researchers will get to have fresh vegetables while on their assignments! It seems that the Vikings left too early (as written about by Jerrod Diamond in “Collapse”).
hopefully when the low islands r covered those inhabitants then can move to greenland. cool
Greenland will finally be able to live up to its name!
I’m not sure why we are surprised about Greenland. If you read the book 1421, based on a documented Chinese expedition that year, the author talk about the Chinese described Greenland as lush and fertile. That was 586 years ago.
This is part of a cycle for Greenland – some times cold and icy; others fertile. That’s why it was called Greenland
Amy thats wrong.
There are many theories on the name “Greenland”
The most probable etymological origin for the name Greenland – is Hronland, which means “Land of the Whales” in ancient Norse.
It was actually significally greener and warmer when the Vikings settled there(986 AD), this because of the Medieval Warm Period(Ca 1000AD). The North Atlantic temperatures were around 1 celcius higher than they are today. This is also one of the reasons that the Norwegian Vikings could travel this far with their Longboats in these oceans.
But on the other hand,
By 1421 (when you claim the Chinese came)the climate was on the onset of the “Little Ice Age” and it was even colder than today, it can’t have been significantly “lush and fertile”. The colder climate is actually one of the strong theories on why the Norwegians abandoned Greenland in the start of the 15th century.
Your source “1421″ is a fictional book with loads of fictional assumptions by a guy who haven’t studied history.
“Menzies’ main theses are dismissed by professional historians as pseudohistorical fiction”
“The 1421 hypothesis has been dismissed by sinologists and professional historians. Menzies has been criticized for his “reckless manner of dealing with evidence” that led him to propose hypotheses “without a shred of proof”. There are numerous errors of fact in the book, and very little of Menzies’ evidence is supported by peer-reviewed scholarship. Menzies cannot read Chinese, so the book lacks any citation of Chinese sources. Critics have also questioned the extent of Menzies’ nautical knowledge.
Chinese on Greeland, pff… crazy girl.. leave the new age sect! Im suprised how the Chinese can actually have droven their boats all the way to Greenland without leaving one single archaeological or historian trace along the way. While travelling to Greenland they must have avoided places like Iceland, when on an exploration voyage!! which was coincidently settled by the Norse, ofcourse then there would have been writing observers! that wouldnt make the fictional story believable.
You sure you are not confusing Chinese with Inuits?..
they kinda look a like and they live on Greeland