Greenland's melting ice and unstable fjords raise risks for resource extraction

Greenland is warming rapidly, increasing rockslides, tsunamis and infrastructure damage, and those hazards complicate plans to extract minerals and oil from the island.

Greenland's ice sheet is shrinking and the island's steep coastal fjords are becoming more unstable, a situation receiving renewed U.S. attention after recent political statements about control and resource development. Congressional hearings in 2025 emphasized Greenland's strategic and mineral value, while a geoscientist writing on the subject warns that environmental hazards have received less focus. The article notes the island's sparse coastal population and long history of hazardous interactions with ice and steep terrain. Those physical conditions affect the practicality and safety of both military operations and commercial extraction. Key facts: - Arctic warming around Greenland is faster than most places on Earth, increasing melting and related hazards. - Steep fjord walls, once supported by ice, are prone to large rockslides that can trigger tsunami-like waves; a 2017 slide killed four residents and a 2023 slide produced prolonged fjord waves. - Thawing permafrost and increased meltwater are damaging infrastructure, including runways and radar sites used by military installations. - Greenland's government banned offshore fossil-fuel drilling in 2021, but renewed political interest and discussion of resource development have surfaced recently. Summary: The rapid climate-driven changes around Greenland — melting ice, unstable slopes and shifting shorelines — make military presence and resource extraction more complex and costly. Historical and recent events show these hazards can have serious local impacts. Undetermined at this time.