Copilot:
I have read that Denmark is in the EU, but Greenland is not. Is that correct?
Yes — that’s correct, and it’s one of those geopolitical quirks that makes perfect sense once you see how the Kingdom of Denmark is structured.
🇩🇰 Denmark vs. 🇬🇱 Greenland — Different EU Status
Here’s the clean breakdown:
Denmark is a full member of the European Union.
Greenland is not part of the EU, even though it is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
This distinction shows up clearly in current reporting about Greenland’s political status. Several articles note that Greenland is a self‑governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, and that Denmark is the EU member in this relationship.
🧭 Why Greenland isn’t in the EU
Greenland actually used to be part of the European Communities (the EU’s predecessor) when Denmark joined in 1973. But after gaining home rule, Greenland held a referendum in 1982 and chose to leave — mainly over fishing rights. Its exit became official in 1985.
🧊 What this means today
Greenland is not subject to EU law.
It has a special relationship with the EU as an Overseas Country and Territory (OCT).
Denmark still handles Greenland’s foreign affairs and defense, which is why EU and NATO discussions often involve Denmark when Greenland is mentioned.
If you want, I can also map out how this affects things like trade, travel, or Arctic security — all areas where the Denmark/Greenland split creates interesting dynamics.
But Greenland is still entitled to NATO protection...?
Yes — Greenland is covered by NATO’s collective‑defence guarantee, even though it is not in the EU. And the current reporting you’re reading reinforces that point very clearly.
Here’s the clean, evidence‑based breakdown.
🛡️ Why Greenland is protected under NATO
Multiple current sources explicitly state that Greenland’s security falls under NATO because it is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, which is a NATO member.
Key confirmations from your search results
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said directly that “as NATO, we can provide security for all of NATO, Greenland included.”
European leaders have repeatedly framed the Greenland crisis as a NATO matter, emphasizing that because Greenland is part of Denmark, it falls under NATO’s collective defence.
Reporting on the crisis consistently refers to Greenland as a NATO territory and warns that a U.S. attack or annexation attempt would be treated as an attack on a NATO member.
So yes — Greenland is fully inside NATO’s Article 5 umbrella.
🇩🇰 Why this works even though Greenland isn’t in the EU
Denmark is a NATO member.
Greenland is a self‑governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.
NATO membership applies to the territory of member states, including their autonomous regions, unless explicitly excluded (and Greenland is not excluded).
This is why NATO bases operate in Greenland (e.g., Pituffik Space Base), and why European governments are treating the current U.S. threats as a NATO‑level crisis.
🧭 The strategic bottom line
Greenland is:
Outside the EU
Inside NATO
Strategically essential to North American and Arctic defence
Legally protected under Article 5 as part of Denmark’s territory
If you want, I can map out how this creates the current tension between the U.S., Denmark, and Europe — or how NATO would theoretically respond if Greenland were attacked or annexed.
* * *
Greenland; what happens if and when Greenland starts melting completely?
Here’s the blunt, evidence‑based picture, Louise — and it’s one of those topics where the scale is so large that it’s easy to underestimate what “complete melting” actually means.
Below is a clear, structured breakdown grounded in the fresh search results you triggered.
🌍 What Happens If Greenland Melts Completely?
🌊 1. Sea Level Rise: 6–7 metres (20–23 feet) globally
Multiple sources converge on this range:
Complete melting of Greenland’s ice sheet would raise global sea levels by 5–7 metres.
Another analysis estimates up to 23 feet (≈7 metres) of sea‑level rise.
This is enough to:
Permanently flood major coastal cities (New York, Miami, London, Shanghai, Mumbai).
Submerge large parts of Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Florida, and island nations.
Push saltwater into freshwater aquifers, destroying agriculture in many regions.
This is not a “storm surge” scenario — it’s a permanent redrawing of the world map.
🌡️ 2. Massive Climate System Disruption
Greenland’s ice sheet is a major stabilizer of the Northern Hemisphere climate.
If it melts:
The influx of cold freshwater into the North Atlantic weakens the AMOC (Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation).
This circulation drives weather patterns across Europe and North America.
Consequences include:
More extreme winters in Europe.
Hotter, more humid summers in eastern North America.
Shifts in monsoon patterns.
Increased storm intensity.
This is not speculative — early signs of AMOC weakening are already documented.
🧊 3. Acceleration of Global Warming
Ice reflects sunlight. Water and land absorb it.
Losing Greenland’s ice sheet means:
A massive drop in planetary albedo.
Faster warming of the Arctic.
More methane release from permafrost.
A feedback loop that accelerates global climate change.
🌐 4. Global Population Displacement
Even a 1‑metre rise exposes tens of millions of people to chronic flooding.
A 6–7 metre rise would:
Displace hundreds of millions.
Trigger mass migration on a scale without precedent.
Create geopolitical instability, food shortages, and conflict over habitable land.
🏔️ 5. Local Impacts in Greenland
Greenland itself would transform dramatically:
Loss of traditional Inuit hunting grounds.
Exposure of new land, minerals, and potential farmland.
New shipping routes.
Increased geopolitical interest (already happening).
But these “opportunities” come with enormous global costs.
🧭 How fast could this happen?
The research you surfaced shows:
Parts of Greenland’s ice sheet have melted completely within the last 10,000 years.
Some domes (like Prudhoe) could add 73 cm of sea‑level rise on their own if they collapse.
Greenland is currently losing 30 million tonnes of ice every hour.
A full melt would take centuries — but irreversible tipping points could be crossed this century.
🔍 If you want, we can go deeper
Given your interest in physical plausibility and system‑level modeling, we can explore:
The exact tipping‑point thresholds.
How AMOC collapse interacts with Quebec’s climate.
Which global cities disappear at +6 m.
What partial melt scenarios (1 m, 2 m, 3 m) look like.
How Greenland’s geology (including deep geothermal heat) accelerates melt.
Just tell me which angle you want to unpack next.
How much of Greelands current area would be left?
Here’s the clean, quantitative answer you’re looking for, Louise — grounded in the fresh search results you triggered.
🧊 How much of Greenland’s current area would remain if the ice sheet melted?
🌍 Short answer: Almost all of the land would still exist — but the shape of Greenland would change dramatically.
Greenland today is ~2 million km² in total area.
About 80% of that is covered by the ice sheet (≈1.7 million km²).
If the ice melted:
✅ The land itself does not disappear.
The ice sits on bedrock, not floating. So the area of Greenland would still be close to 2 million km².
❗ But the coastline and geography would be radically different:
Huge depressions under the ice would fill with seawater.
Greenland would become an archipelago, not a single island.
Some central basins lie below sea level, so they would become inland seas.
The exposed land would be lower in elevation and more rugged.
This is because the ice sheet’s weight has pushed the crust downward for millennia. Remove the ice, and:
Some areas rebound upward (isostatic rebound).
Others remain below sea level long enough to flood.
📌 So what’s the actual “remaining area”?
Land area above sea level after full melt: ~1.5–1.8 million km² (estimate)
Why a range?
Because:
Some basins would flood.
Some land would rebound upward over thousands of years.
The exact coastline depends on sea‑level rise (5–7 m globally).
But the key point:
👉 Greenland does not shrink to a tiny remnant. It stays roughly the same size — but becomes a different shape entirely.
🗺️ Want a map of “Greenland without ice”?
I can generate a detailed, step‑by‑step explanation of the new geography, or walk you through:
Which regions become islands
Which valleys flood
How much land becomes habitable
How the coastline shifts
Just tell me which angle you want to explore next.
How are Alaska and the Canadian North different from Greenland on climate change... or are they?
Here’s the clear, evidence‑based comparison you’re looking for, Louise — grounded in the fresh search results you triggered and organized so you can see the structural differences between Alaska, the Canadian North, and Greenland in how climate change hits them.
🌡️ Are Alaska, the Canadian North, and Greenland experiencing climate change differently?
Yes — they share the same Arctic warming trend, but the mechanisms, speed, and consequences differ in important ways.
Below is a structured breakdown with citations.
🧊 1. Rate of Warming
Alaska
Alaska has warmed about 4.2°F since 1970, far faster than the global average.
The Arctic overall is warming nearly three times faster than the planet.
Canadian North (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Similar Arctic amplification as Alaska.
Strong northward shift of plant species already documented in Yukon and Alaska together.
Greenland
Also warming rapidly, but the biggest signal is ice sheet melt, not air temperature alone.
Greenland’s ice sheet is losing mass at accelerating rates (from earlier discussion).
Bottom line:
All three regions warm fast, but Alaska’s air temperatures show the clearest documented jump, while Greenland’s ice sheet is the most sensitive physical system.
🏔️ 2. What’s actually changing on the ground?
Alaska
Thawing permafrost, melting glaciers, and coastal erosion are major impacts.
Some Alaska Native communities are already being forced to relocate due to erosion and thawing ground.
Tundra is becoming greener, with major vegetation shifts documented across Alaska.
Canadian North
Similar tundra greening and species migration as Alaska.
Dozens of plant species in Yukon and Alaska are predicted to spread northward due to warming.
Caribou herds are declining in some regions, linked to climate‑driven habitat changes.
Greenland
The dominant change is ice sheet melt, not vegetation or permafrost.
Coastal communities face changes in sea ice that affect hunting and travel.
Greenland’s interior is mostly ice, so ecological shifts are limited to the coasts.
Bottom line:
Alaska and the Canadian North are transforming ecologically (plants, animals, permafrost), while Greenland is transforming glaciologically (ice loss, sea‑level contribution).
🌊 3. Hydrology & Sea‑Level Impact
Alaska & Canadian North
Their glaciers contribute to sea‑level rise, but on a much smaller scale.
The bigger issue locally is permafrost thaw, which destabilizes buildings, roads, and pipelines.
Greenland
Greenland is the single largest contributor to global sea‑level rise after Antarctica.
Its meltwater affects the Atlantic circulation (AMOC), influencing weather patterns far beyond the Arctic.
Bottom line:
Greenland’s melt has global consequences, while Alaska/Canada’s changes are more regional and ecological.
🌧️ 4. Precipitation & Weather Patterns
Alaska
Increasing winter precipitation and more extreme weather events are documented.
Canadian North
Similar trends, but with strong regional variability (some areas wetter, some drier).
Greenland
Warming shifts snowfall to rain in some seasons, accelerating ice melt.
🧭 5. Human Impacts
Alaska
Some communities already relocating due to erosion and thawing ground.
Infrastructure damage is widespread.
Canadian North
Similar risks, but population density is lower.
Food security and wildlife changes are major concerns.
Greenland
Sea‑ice loss affects hunting and travel.
New shipping routes and resource access create geopolitical interest.
🧩 So what’s the core difference?
Alaska & Canadian North
Primarily land‑based ecosystems responding to warming:
Permafrost thaw
Vegetation shifts
Wildlife changes
Infrastructure damage
Greenland
Primarily an ice‑dominated system responding to warming:
Ice sheet melt
Sea‑level rise
Ocean circulation impacts
They share the same climate drivers, but the physical systems they sit on are completely different — and that’s why the outcomes diverge.
If you want, we can go deeper into:
How these changes affect Quebec’s climate specifically
Whether Greenland’s melt could alter Atlantic storm tracks
Which northern Canadian regions are most vulnerable to permafrost collapse
Just tell me where you want to take it next.
How come Greenland is so icy? How long has this taken??
Here’s the clear, evidence‑based story of why Greenland is so icy and how long it took to get that way, grounded in the fresh search results you triggered.
🧊 Why is Greenland so icy?
Greenland is covered by a massive ice sheet — about 1.7 million km², or 80% of the island. That didn’t happen by accident. Three major factors lock Greenland into its icy state:
❄️ 1. Its location in the high Arctic
Greenland sits between 59° and 83°N, deep in the Arctic Circle, where:
Sunlight is weak for much of the year
Winters are extremely long
Average temperatures stay below freezing for most of the island
This makes it easy for snow to accumulate and hard for it to melt.
🏔️ 2. Its bowl‑shaped interior traps snow and ice
Greenland’s interior is shaped like a giant basin:
A high central plateau
Surrounded by mountains
Much of the bedrock lies below sea level
This “saucer” shape allows snow to pile up year after year, compacting into ice and growing into a continental‑scale ice sheet.
🌬️ 3. Atmospheric and ocean circulation keep it cold
Cold Arctic air masses and sea ice help maintain low temperatures.
Even when the global climate warms, Greenland’s altitude and latitude keep the interior frozen.
🕰️ How long did it take for Greenland to become icy?
This is the part most people underestimate.
🌍 Greenland was NOT always icy.
Millions of years ago, it was much greener — forests, rivers, and even tundra wildlife existed there.
🧊 When did the ice sheet form?
According to the research summarized in your search results:
Greenland’s transition from mostly ice‑free to ice‑covered began a few million years ago.
The modern Greenland Ice Sheet formed during the Pliocene–Pleistocene glaciations, roughly 2.5–3 million years ago.
It expanded and thickened during repeated ice ages.
🧊 How long did it take to reach its current size?
The full buildup took hundreds of thousands of years, through cycles of:
Snowfall
Compression into ice
Expansion during cold periods
Partial retreat during warm periods
But the persistent ice sheet we know today has existed for at least 1 million years.
🧩 Why does it stay icy even during warm periods?
Because once an ice sheet becomes thick enough:
Its high elevation keeps temperatures cold
Its bright surface reflects sunlight (high albedo)
Its mass depresses the crust, creating a basin that traps more ice
This creates a self‑reinforcing system.
🧭 Want to go deeper?
We can explore:
What Greenland looked like before the ice
How fast it could melt under modern warming
Why Greenland’s ice sheet is more vulnerable than Antarctica’s
How its bedrock shape affects melt rates
Just tell me which direction you want to take.
How fast would one expect melt under modern warming?
Here’s the clear, evidence‑based answer, Louise — grounded directly in the fresh search results you triggered and organized so you can see the physical limits of how fast Greenland can melt under modern warming.
🧊 How fast can Greenland melt under today’s warming?
There are three different timescales to think about:
Current melt rate
Expected melt by 2100
Full ice‑sheet collapse
Each behaves differently.
1) 🌡️ Current melt rate (right now)
Greenland is already losing ice at an accelerating pace:
Recent decades show Greenland’s ice loss has outpaced previous estimates by 20%.
Ice shelves like Petermann are melting rapidly from below due to warm ocean water, even when heat supply reaches its limit.
The ice sheet is cracking more rapidly, increasing the speed at which ice can flow to the ocean.
This means Greenland is already in a state of structural acceleration, not steady melt.
2) 📅 Expected melt by 2100 (under high emissions)
A major climate‑model comparison gives the clearest numbers:
Greenland could lose 964 to 1,735 gigatonnes of ice per year by 2100 under a high‑warming scenario (SSP585).
This would contribute up to 1 metre of global sea‑level rise by 2100.
To put that in perspective:
1,000 gigatonnes ≈ 3 mm of sea‑level rise
So 1,735 Gt/year is enormous — a melt rate far beyond anything in the Holocene.
This is the “fastest plausible” century‑scale melt under modern warming.
3) 🧭 Full melt of the Greenland Ice Sheet
This is the part people often misunderstand.
Even under extreme warming, Greenland cannot melt completely in a century.
The ice sheet is simply too massive — equivalent to 7 metres of sea‑level rise.
The scientific consensus:
Full melt requires many centuries to several millennia.
But the tipping point for irreversible melt could be crossed this century.
Once that threshold is crossed:
The melt becomes self‑sustaining
Even if temperatures later fall
The ice sheet continues shrinking until it reaches a new equilibrium
This is the real danger:
Irreversibility, not speed.
🧩 So what’s the realistic melt trajectory?
Here’s the distilled version:
🧭 Want to go deeper?
Given your interest in physical plausibility and system‑level modeling, we can explore:
The exact temperature threshold for irreversible melt
How AMOC weakening interacts with Greenland melt
Whether Greenland’s melt could alter Quebec’s climate
How fast the coastal parts of Greenland could become ice‑free
Just tell me which angle you want to unpack next.
But you said this earlier: one would not go to cleared even land, but to an archipelago...
You’re remembering exactly right — and the apparent contradiction disappears once you separate “how much land remains above sea level” from “what shape that land takes.”
Those are two different questions, and they lead to two different‑sounding answers.
Let me untangle it cleanly.
🌍 1. Does Greenland lose land area when the ice melts?
No — almost all the land remains.
The bedrock doesn’t vanish. Greenland stays roughly ~2 million km² in total land area.
That’s why I said:
➡️ “Most of Greenland’s land would still exist.”
🏝️ 2. Does Greenland stay a single island?
No — it becomes an archipelago.
This is because the shape of the land under the ice is nothing like the shape of the ice sheet on top of it.
Greenland’s bedrock has:
huge basins
deep valleys
long troughs below sea level
a central depression pushed down by the weight of the ice
When the ice melts:
seawater floods the low basins
fjords expand
the central bowl becomes a giant inland sea
mountain ridges become islands
That’s why I said:
➡️ “You wouldn’t get a single cleared landmass — you’d get an archipelago.”
Both statements are true at the same time.
🧩 So what’s the combined picture?
✔️ Land area:
Still huge — most of Greenland’s bedrock remains above sea level.
✔️ Coastline:
Explodes in complexity.
Greenland becomes a maze of islands, peninsulas, and flooded basins.
✔️ Interior:
A large portion becomes a new ocean, because the bedrock is below sea level until it rebounds (which takes thousands of years).
✔️ Long‑term:
Isostatic rebound slowly lifts some areas, but the archipelago persists for a very long time.
🧭 If you want, I can map this out for you in words
I can walk you through:
which regions become islands
which valleys flood
where the new inland sea forms
how much of the coastline becomes navigable
how Greenland’s “new shape” compares to Norway or the Canadian Arctic Archipelago
Just tell me how deep you want to go.
Does it eventually come to resemble Canada's situation?
Absolutely — and this is a great intuition, Louise.
Yes, a de‑iced Greenland would end up looking much more like Arctic Canada than like the Greenland we know today.
But the resemblance isn’t 1:1. It’s structural, not identical.
Let me break it down in a way that matches how you think: physical plausibility, geomorphology, and long‑term climate logic.
🧭 1. The “Canadianization” of Greenland: the big picture
If Greenland’s ice sheet melts, the exposed land would resemble:
The Canadian Arctic Archipelago (Nunavut’s islands, Ellesmere, Baffin, Victoria, Banks)
Northern Quebec–Labrador’s shield topography
Parts of Yukon/NWT glaciated plateaus
Why? Because all these landscapes share the same underlying ingredients:
Glacially carved basins
Fjords and drowned valleys
Shield‑rock uplands
Low‑relief interior plains
Permafrost‑dominated soils (at least initially)
Greenland without ice becomes a rugged, fractured, fjord‑rich archipelago — exactly the pattern you see across Arctic Canada.
🏔️ 2. Why Greenland becomes an archipelago like Canada
Canada’s Arctic islands exist because the Laurentide Ice Sheet carved deep troughs and basins, then retreated, letting seawater flood in.
Greenland’s bedrock is similar:
A deep central basin (currently depressed by ice weight)
Mountain rims around the edges
Long glacial troughs running to the coast
Many areas below sea level even after rebound
When the ice melts:
The central basin becomes an inland sea
The mountain rims become islands
Fjords expand dramatically
Low valleys flood, creating channels between islands
This is almost exactly how the Canadian Arctic Archipelago formed.
🌡️ 3. Climate: would Greenland’s climate resemble Canada’s?
Eventually, yes — but with a twist.
Short term (0–2,000 years after melt):
Greenland stays colder than Canada because the land is rebounding and still surrounded by cold ocean currents.
Permafrost dominates newly exposed land.
Vegetation is sparse tundra.
Long term (2,000+ years):
As the crust rebounds and the inland sea shrinks, Greenland’s climate stabilizes.
It begins to resemble Baffin Island, Ellesmere Island, and northern Quebec:
Tundra
Boreal fringe in the south
Maritime Arctic climate along coasts
Shield‑rock landscapes with lakes and wetlands
So yes — Greenland eventually converges toward a Canadian‑style Arctic environment.
🧩 4. Key differences from Canada
Even after full melt, Greenland would still be unique:
1. The inland sea
Canada doesn’t have a giant ocean in the middle of its Arctic islands.
Greenland would — at least for thousands of years.
2. Higher mountains
Greenland’s coastal mountains are taller and more continuous than most of the Canadian Arctic.
3. Faster isostatic rebound
Greenland’s crust is pushed down by a much thicker ice sheet, so rebound is more dramatic.
4. Ocean circulation
Greenland sits at the heart of the North Atlantic, so its climate is more influenced by AMOC and Atlantic currents than Canada’s Arctic, which is more continental.
🧭 5. The simplest way to say it
Greenland without ice becomes:
Geologically: a Canadian‑style shield archipelago
Climatically: a mix of Baffin Island + Labrador + Ellesmere
Geographically: more fractured and fjord‑rich than Canada
Long‑term: a northern landmass that looks like a sibling to Arctic Canada
So yes — your instinct is right.
A de‑iced Greenland becomes Canada’s Arctic cousin.
If you want, I can sketch out (in words) the exact regions that become islands, the size of the inland sea, or how the coastline compares to Nunavut’s.
But then if climate warms enough for Greenland to resemble Canada, what happens to current Canada over the same time frame?
Here’s the honest, physically grounded answer, Louise — and I’ll anchor it in the fresh search results you triggered about Canada’s projected warming so we stay evidence‑based.
🌍 If Greenland becomes “like Canada,” what happens to Canada?
If the climate warms enough for Greenland to lose its ice and resemble the Canadian Arctic, then Canada itself is no longer the Canada we know.
It shifts into a new climate regime — warmer, wetter, more extreme, and in some regions almost unrecognizable.
Let’s break it down cleanly.
🔥 1. Canada warms far more than the global average
Canada is already warming twice as fast as the global mean, and the Arctic regions even faster.
Fresh search results show:
Global temperatures in 2025 are projected to be 1.35–1.55°C above pre‑industrial.
Canada’s own climate projections show strong warming across all scenarios.
If Greenland melts enough to resemble Nunavut or Labrador, that implies global warming of
3–5°C or more.
Under that level of warming, Canada experiences:
Southern Canada (Ontario, Quebec, Prairies):
Summers resembling northern U.S. states today
Heatwaves that regularly exceed 40°C
Dramatically more humidity and extreme rainfall
Major stress on agriculture and forests
Northern Canada (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut):
Becomes sub‑Arctic or even boreal in many regions
Permafrost collapse on a continental scale
Tundra replaced by shrubs and eventually forest
Wildlife turnover (caribou decline, new species move north)
🌧️ 2. Precipitation increases sharply
Climate models show Canada becoming wetter overall, especially in winter.
This means:
More winter rain instead of snow
More flooding
More freeze–thaw cycles
More infrastructure damage
🌲 3. The boreal forest shifts north — and burns
Canada’s boreal forest is already under extreme stress.
With 3–5°C global warming:
Southern boreal forest becomes savanna‑like
Wildfires become annual megafires
Forests retreat northward by hundreds of kilometres
Some regions become too dry for trees at all
This is one of the biggest ecological transformations on Earth.
🧊 4. Permafrost collapse reshapes the North
If Greenland is warm enough to lose its ice sheet, then Canada’s permafrost:
Thaws almost completely in lowlands
Releases massive carbon and methane
Causes ground subsidence, landslides, and lake drainage
Destroys roads, pipelines, and buildings
This is already happening — but it accelerates dramatically.
🌊 5. Sea‑level rise reshapes Canada’s coasts
Greenland’s melt alone adds 5–7 metres of sea‑level rise.
For Canada, that means:
Large parts of PEI, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick flood
Vancouver’s lowlands disappear without massive engineering
Arctic coastal communities are forced inland
Saltwater intrusion affects farmland and drinking water
🌡️ 6. Southern Canada becomes a different climate zone entirely
If Greenland looks like Nunavut, then:
Southern Quebec resembles today’s Pennsylvania or Virginia
Southern Ontario resembles Ohio or Kentucky
The Prairies resemble Nebraska or Kansas
BC Interior resembles California foothills
This is not hyperbole — it’s the logical extension of the warming needed to melt Greenland.
🧭 The simplest way to say it
If Greenland becomes “like Canada,”
Canada becomes like the northern United States — and the North becomes something entirely new.
The whole climate system shifts northward by hundreds of kilometres.
If you want, we can map this out region by region
For example:
What does Quebec look like at +3°C?
What does Nunavut look like at +5°C?
Which Canadian cities become uninhabitable without adaptation?
Which regions gain or lose agricultural potential?
Just tell me where you want to zoom in.
You mentionned there could be irreversible thresholds crossed before 2100 for Greeland; what about for Canada?
Here’s the clean, evidence‑based answer, Louise — grounded in the fresh search results you triggered and in what Canada’s own climate assessments say about irreversible thresholds.
The short version:
Yes — Canada also faces irreversible climate thresholds this century.
They’re different from Greenland’s, but just as consequential.
🔥 1. Canada is warming twice as fast as the global average
Canada’s own climate reports emphasize that the country is warming rapidly and that the “window to minimize the worst impacts is rapidly closing”.
Scientists warn that global warming is on track to exceed the 1.5°C threshold, which will escalate impacts in Canadacarbonneutralitycanada.ca.
This sets the stage for several irreversible changes.
🧊 2. Irreversible Threshold #1: Permafrost Collapse
This is Canada’s closest analogue to Greenland’s ice‑sheet tipping point.
Once permafrost thaws:
It cannot refreeze to its original structure
Ground collapses permanently
Lakes drain or form suddenly
Massive carbon and methane are released
This is a one‑way transition.
Canada’s northern permafrost zone covers millions of square kilometres — and warming is strongest there.
Crossing this threshold is considered inevitable under continued warming.
🌲 3. Irreversible Threshold #2: Boreal Forest Shift & Dieback
Canada’s boreal forest — one of the largest on Earth — is already under stress from:
Heat
Drought
Insects
Wildfire
Once large regions burn repeatedly or dry out:
Forests do not return to their previous state
They shift to shrubland or grassland
Carbon storage is permanently reduced
This is another irreversible ecological transition.
Canada’s climate assessments warn that escalating impacts are expected as warming continues.
🌊 4. Irreversible Threshold #3: Coastal Loss from Sea‑Level Rise
Greenland’s melt (and Antarctica’s) drives global sea‑level rise.
Canada’s coasts face:
Permanent flooding
Saltwater intrusion
Loss of wetlands
Erosion of Arctic shorelines
Once land is submerged or eroded, it does not come back.
🌧️ 5. Irreversible Threshold #4: Hydrological Regime Shift
Canada’s climate reports highlight that warming will reshape precipitation patterns across the country.
Crossing certain thresholds leads to:
Permanent loss of snowpack in southern regions
Rivers shifting from snow‑fed to rain‑fed
Earlier spring melt
Chronic summer drought in the Prairies
These are system‑level changes that do not reverse even if temperatures stabilize.
🧭 6. Irreversible Threshold #5: Species & Ecosystem Turnover
As warming accelerates:
Southern species move north
Arctic species lose habitat
Caribou herds decline
Tundra transitions to shrubland
Once species disappear from a region, they rarely return.
🧩 So how does this compare to Greenland’s tipping points?
Greenland’s threshold is glaciological.
Canada’s thresholds are ecological, hydrological, and cryospheric.
Both are irreversible on human timescales.
If you want, we can zoom in on:
Which thresholds affect Quebec specifically
What happens to the Prairies under +3°C
How fast permafrost collapse accelerates warming
Which Canadian regions remain most stable
Just tell me where you want to take it next.
* * *
What happens to the high volume of daily melt? Is there a lot of turbulence around the glacier?
Absolutely, Louise — and this is one of those places where the physics is far more violent than most people imagine.
The fresh search results you triggered give us a very clear picture of what happens to the enormous volume of daily meltwater coming off Greenland’s glaciers.
Below is a clean, structured breakdown with citations.
🌊 1. Where does the daily meltwater go?
Greenland’s meltwater takes three main pathways:
A. Surface melt streams → moulins → subglacial plumbing
Meltwater forms raging rivers on the ice surface. These rivers often plunge into deep vertical shafts called moulins, delivering water straight to the glacier bed.
Once inside the glacier, meltwater:
rushes through tunnels
lubricates the base
accelerates ice flow
The Conversation article describes meltwater rivers so powerful they exceed the flow of the Thames River — and then vanish into giant fissures.
B. Subglacial floods
Sometimes meltwater accumulates beneath the ice until pressure forces a sudden release — a jökulhlaup (glacial outburst flood).
A 2025 Nature Geoscience study documents a massive subglacial flood erupting from the surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet.
C. Discharge into fjords
At marine‑terminating glaciers, meltwater exits at the base of the glacier into the ocean, forming powerful upwelling plumes.
These plumes rise along the glacier face and drive intense mixing.
A study on vertical glacier faces shows that meltwater discharge forms strong upwelling plumes that enhance melting and turbulence.
🌪️ 2. Is there a lot of turbulence around the glacier?
Yes — extreme turbulence.
The physics is dramatic and well‑documented.
A. Meltwater plumes create violent upwelling
When fresh meltwater shoots out at the glacier’s base, it is:
lighter than seawater
under high pressure
extremely cold
This creates a buoyant plume that rises rapidly, entraining seawater and generating turbulence.
The plume studies show:
strong vertical jets
intense mixing
rapid erosion of the glacier face
B. Surface melt rivers are extremely turbulent
The Conversation article describes:
deafening white‑water torrents
canyon‑filling flows
whirlpools swallowing entire rivers into moulins
These are not gentle streams — they are violent, high‑energy systems.
C. Subglacial floods are explosive
The Nature Geoscience study documents:
sudden, high‑pressure releases
rapid drainage events
destabilization of the ice sheet surface
These floods can reshape the glacier bed and trigger calving events.
🌊 3. What happens when meltwater hits the ocean?
This is where turbulence becomes climate‑relevant.
A. Plumes accelerate glacier melt
Warm ocean water is pulled upward by the rising meltwater plume.
This delivers heat directly to the glacier face, increasing melt rates.
B. Plumes destabilize glacier fronts
Turbulence at the calving front:
undercuts the glacier
increases calving
accelerates retreat
C. Freshwater affects ocean circulation
Large freshwater inputs alter:
stratification
nutrient mixing
local acidification states (as shown in the 79°N Glacier study)
🧩 4. The simplest way to say it
Greenland’s meltwater system is not a gentle drip — it is a violent, high‑energy hydrological engine.
Surface rivers roar like major terrestrial rivers
Moulins swallow entire flows into the ice
Subglacial floods erupt explosively
Meltwater plumes churn the ocean and erode glacier faces
The turbulence is not a side effect — it is a driver of Greenland’s rapid ice loss.
If you want, we can go deeper into:
how meltwater lubricates the glacier bed
how turbulence affects calving rates
whether this turbulence is increasing over time
how this compares to Canadian Arctic glaciers
Just tell me where you want to take it.
