Greenland Is Melting, and the World Is at Risk! Rising Seas Put Asia on Alert

Greenland’s accelerating ice loss is driving global sea-level rise, while the rapidly changing Arctic is emerging as a new front in the struggle over critical minerals, strategic shipping routes, and geopolitical power.

SISIMIUT, Greenland — From a distance, the village of Sarfannguit looks like a handful of brightly colored candies scattered across a rocky shelf.

Hidden inside a narrow, sheltered fjord, the settlement is home to roughly 100 people. Colorful houses sit among exposed granite slopes, surrounded by the waters of the Davis Strait, where humpback whales and ringed seals follow nutrient-rich currents.

But behind the picturesque landscape is a community facing an increasingly uncertain future.

For decades, Sarfannguit and other small settlements across Greenland have struggled with population decline, limited economic opportunities and the steady migration of young people toward larger towns. Climate change is now adding another layer of pressure.

The Arctic is warming at several times the global average, transforming coastlines, ecosystems, weather patterns and traditional ways of life.

An iceberg floats off the coast of Greenland. Christine Zenino

From the highest point of Sarfannguit, strong winds sweep across a barren landscape covered with Arctic wildflowers, dwarf shrubs and lichen.

The village is also home to Qaammat, a glass-and-steel artwork whose name means “Moon” in Greenlandic. The installation honors the intangible cultural heritage of Greenland’s Indigenous Inuit communities.

For 69-year-old Hanserak Olsen, a fisherman and boat guide who grew up in Sarfannguit, the landscape is deeply connected to generations of family history.

For generations, families from the village have traveled inland during summer to hunt near Greenland’s vast ice sheet. Olsen now wonders whether that tradition can survive.

Sea ice has become harder to predict. Fish populations are shifting, making catches less reliable, while younger residents are leaving to pursue education and employment elsewhere.

“Of course, there is internet here. But in the city there are many more interesting options and a more modern way of life,” Olsen said.

Sisimiut, the nearest major town, is about an hour away by boat.

Greenland is now at the center of some of the most dramatic consequences of a warming Arctic.

Observed mass change of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Mass change (mass loss in red, mass gain in blue) between 2003 and 2019 for Greenland and Antarctica, given in metres of ice equivalent per year (from Smith et al., 2020).

The island’s ice sheet covers more than 80 percent of its land area and has become one of the largest contributors to global sea-level rise.

Under the highest-emissions scenario assessed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Greenland’s ice loss could contribute about 13 centimeters to global sea-level rise by 2100, with a likely range of roughly 9 to 18 centimeters.

That may sound modest, but even several centimeters of additional sea-level rise can have major consequences for densely populated coastal areas.

Low-lying river deltas in Asia, including the Mekong, Ayeyarwady and Chao Phraya, face significant risks. Major coastal cities such as Jakarta, Manila and Bangkok are also increasingly vulnerable, as are ports and coastal infrastructure across Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.

“The bottom line is simple: what happens in Greenland does not stay in Greenland. Its impacts will reach coastlines, transportation systems, homes, ports and water supplies in coastal cities across Asia,” said Benjamin Horton, dean of the School of Energy and Environment at City University of Hong Kong.

Asia is particularly exposed because of its enormous coastal population and the concentration of major cities and infrastructure in low-lying areas.

The consequences of rising seas include more frequent coastal flooding, saltwater intrusion into drinking-water supplies and farmland, damage to infrastructure, loss of wetlands and mangrove ecosystems, and rising costs for insurance and climate adaptation.

“Greenland may feel far away, but what happens there is directly connected to every coastline on Earth. This is not simply a distant Arctic issue,” Horton said.

The threat is already becoming visible in Greenland itself.

In Nuuk Fjord, chunks of ice released from glaciers drift across the water as meltwater pours down from the interior. Waterfalls cascade over ancient cliffs while icebergs gradually break apart and disappear into the sea.

Scientists say Greenland’s ice loss has accelerated significantly since the 2000s as air and ocean temperatures have risen and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have increased.

NASA satellite observations show that Greenland lost an average of roughly 264 billion metric tons of ice annually between 2002 and 2025. That loss contributed about 0.8 millimeters per year to global sea-level rise.

The process can appear slow from year to year, but its cumulative impact is substantial.

“Sea-level rise can feel like a distant threat because the process happens gradually. But gradual does not mean harmless,” Horton said.

As more ice melts, darker surfaces are exposed. Those darker areas absorb more solar energy, reinforcing warming and accelerating the melting process.

Outlet glaciers can also speed up the movement of ice from the interior toward the ocean, adding more freshwater to the sea.

The transformation is not limited to Greenland’s ice sheet.

As Arctic sea ice declines, the region’s ability to reflect solar radiation back into space is also changing. Scientists are increasingly studying how the loss of sea ice could influence clouds, atmospheric circulation and weather patterns far beyond the Arctic.

“The Arctic helps cool the planet and shapes global weather patterns, including systems such as the polar jet stream and monsoons,” said Rebecca Pincus, a senior fellow with the Transatlantic Security Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

“The loss of Arctic sea ice weakens that cooling effect,” she said.

Climate change is also reshaping Greenland’s fisheries, one of the most important pillars of its economy.

Traditional Greenlandic housing is seen from the Myggedalen viewpoint in Nuuk, Greenland, on March 28, 2025.Leon Neal—Getty Images

Seafood accounts for the overwhelming majority of Greenland’s export earnings, with products shipped to markets across Asia, Europe and North America.

Scientists have documented changes in the distribution of several important species. Arctic cod, for example, has been moving farther north as ocean temperatures rise. Fishermen have also reported increasingly unpredictable catches, with some species moving into deeper waters.

Traditional hunters and fishermen are among those most exposed because their livelihoods often depend on stable sea-ice conditions.

As conditions become less predictable, some are moving to larger communities and joining commercial fishing operations that can travel farther offshore.

Bo Martinsen, a member of Greenland’s parliament, warned that the disappearance of small settlements would mean more than a demographic shift.

“If they are not there, who will provide the needs of the other areas? If they disappear, we will lose a lot. But we also cannot stop what is happening, so we have to learn how to deal with it,” Martinsen said.

In Nuuk, fisherman Tika Olsen continues to leave the harbor almost every day in a small boat to fish for Atlantic cod.

One morning, a whale believed to be a humpback tore through his fishing net, sending his catch back into the water.

Olsen joked that another large mammal might soon appear.

“Maybe a polar bear,” he said.

Polar bears remain uncommon around Nuuk because their primary habitat is farther north and east, where sea ice is more extensive.

But an unusual polar bear sighting near a fjord in the summer of 2024, possibly carried by drifting sea ice, offered a striking reminder of how rapidly Arctic conditions are changing.

“It’s crazy. If you had said something like that 15 years ago, nobody would have believed you,” said former Greenland parliament member Tillie Martinussen.

“The ice sheet is melting at an alarming rate. I think we are going to see even more dramatic changes in the future,” she said.

At the same time, the disappearance of sea ice is making the Arctic more strategically important.

As waters remain open for longer periods, governments and companies see new possibilities for shipping, resource extraction and economic activity.

Greenland is believed to hold significant deposits of critical minerals, including rare-earth elements, graphite and lithium.

That potential has attracted interest from major powers, including the United States and China.

China has repeatedly explored investment opportunities involving Greenlandic infrastructure and mining, although several major projects have failed to move forward amid political and security concerns.

“Greenland and the other territories are caught in the middle of competition between major powers and their global ambitions,” said Klaus Dodds, a professor of geopolitics at Middlesex University London and co-author of Unfrozen: The Fight for the Future of the Arctic.

The United States has placed particular strategic emphasis on Greenland.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire for the United States to gain control of the territory, citing national security and strategic considerations.

Greenland and Denmark have rejected the idea that the territory is for sale, while Greenlandic officials have emphasized their right to determine their own future.

The geopolitical contest extends beyond Greenland.

The Arctic has long been critical to missile defense, submarine operations and military surveillance. As sea ice retreats, longer periods of open water could allow naval and coast guard vessels to operate more frequently in areas that were previously difficult to access.

“These kinds of operations are generally easier to see and are one way of signaling intent,” Pincus said.

The United States has increased activity in the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean, with growing attention to Russian and Chinese vessels. NATO allies have also expanded their presence around Greenland.

Russia remains a major Arctic military power. Moscow has reopened Soviet-era Arctic facilities, expanded deep-water ports and strengthened naval patrols involving its Northern Fleet.

Yet the Arctic remains one of the most difficult environments on Earth in which to operate.

An area flooded by Super Typhoon Noru in the Bulacan Province of the Philippines, September 26, 2022Credit:Rouelle Umali/Xinhua via Getty Images

Climate change could make the region more unpredictable, expensive and dangerous.

“The Arctic that is getting warmer will burn more often. The Arctic that is getting wetter will experience more flooding. And when the Arctic becomes both warmer and wetter, the cost of maintaining infrastructure will rise,” Dodds said.

“A reduction in sea ice does not mean that sea ice will disappear completely,” he added.

The paradox is becoming increasingly clear: a warmer Arctic may create greater access to resources and strategic routes while simultaneously making the region more dangerous and environmentally fragile.

For Greenland’s small communities, the consequences are much more immediate.

The question is whether future generations will still be able to hunt, fish and maintain traditions that have survived for thousands of years.

For the rest of the world, the stakes are even larger.

Steffen Trumpf / Picture alliance via Getty Images

Every ton of ice lost from Greenland adds to a global sea-level problem that will eventually reach distant coastlines.

Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila and other low-lying cities may be thousands of miles from Greenland, but they are connected by the same ocean.

Greenland may sit at the top of the world.

Its warning, however, is reaching every coastline on Earth.

Jack Edward / Senior Staff Writer