By Fedja Grulovic
NUUK, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Greenland, the Arctic island coveted by U.S. President Donald Trump, experienced its warmest January on record this year, as a rate of warming four times faster than the global average redraws the outlook for sectors from fishing to mining.
Trump has said the U.S. must own Greenland, an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark, for security reasons although he has backed away from threats to take the island by force.
Preliminary temperature readings from the Danish Meteorological Institute in the Greenlandic capital Nuuk averaged +0.2 degrees Celsius (32.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in January, the highest on record and well above the historical average of -7.7 degrees between 1991 and 2020.
“Climate change is already clearly visible on Greenland,” said Jacob Hoyer, head of the National Centre for Climate Research at the Danish Meteorological Institute.
“From the records we can see that it is warming four times faster than the mean temperature hike in the world.”
The warm weather means sea ice extends less far south along the coast each winter and is thinner even where it does exist, making it difficult to use for transport, according to Hoyer.
It can also affect the mainstay of Greenland’s economy – fishing. Catches of mainly shrimp, halibut and cod are the biggest export and accounted for 23% of gross domestic product in 2023, according to Statistics Greenland, while the industry provides 15% of all jobs.
“The waters around Greenland are also warming up, and that can change the ecosystem and the fishery business. It will most likely have an impact,” said Hoyer, adding it was too early to tell exactly how.
While Trump has chiefly highlighted security concerns, Greenland also holds strategic mineral resources that could play a part in the power struggle for the island. A Danish survey published in 2023 showed 25 of the 34 minerals deemed “critical raw materials” by the European Commission were found there.
Red tape surrounding mining concessions, harsh conditions and opposition from indigenous groups have historically made mining expensive. The flip side of the warming climate could be that such ventures become more profitable as extraction and shipping become less costly, Hoyer said.
Still, businesses in many established sectors face uncertainty in the here and now. Casper Moller, owner of a company providing tours for tourists, says the lack of snow and ice makes these difficult by snowmobile or skis.
“So, what we are doing at this moment is just crossing our fingers that we will reach more snow quite soon,” he said.
(Reporting by Fedja Grulovic in Nuuk, additional reporting by Tom Little in Copenhagen and Johan Ahlander in Stockholm; Editing by Ros Russell)
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