Menu

Next World TV

Common Sense Solutions - Starting Now

As Greenland Thaws: Pros and Cons

Subscribe to Next World TV

Your e-mail address is kept absolutely private
We make it easy to unsubscribe at any time

Resources Uncovered From Ice - At What Cost?

As temperatures rise and the ice caps melt, Greenland is growing greener. This visually breathtaking and fascinating video tells the story of the paradoxes facing the remote arctic country.

Because of the climate change, they are now able to grow more of their own food instead of importing it. But they lost half of the fishing industry!

There are rare earth minerals being discovered, so much so that it could change the global markets, in which China now dominates. One estimate says 23,000 metric tons of rare earths can be extracted here for the next 23 years!

But they are laced with uranium, and extracting them will result in dangerous contamination.

"This is a country where the environmental concerns are put in the hands of industry -
international industry. And the people don't care, because they don't understand!"

So says Finn Lynge, an author and environmentalist who has spearheaded anti-mining campaigns.

Of course, there is also great interest in Greenland's oil. But a spill in the arctic would be damaging in ways we can not imagine, because of the ice and the extreme remote location of the rigs.

What will the future hold for this pristine country, now that the ice is melting and it is being increasingly pressured by international mining, oil and gas companies?

--Bibi Farber

This video was produced by SBS Dateline Australia

For more Energy videos, click here

See the complete catalog of
next world tv videos