Editing Greenland (section)

==Geography==
{{Main|Geography of Greenland|Climate of Greenland}}
{{See also|Climate of the Arctic#Greenland|Administrative divisions of Greenland|Territorial claims in the Arctic}}[[File:Topographic map of Greenland bedrock.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|alt=Topographic map of Greenland|Greenland bedrock is above sea level.]]
Greenland is the world's [[List of islands by area|largest non-continental island]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Island of Greenland |url=http://www.hiddenjourneys.co.uk/London-Vancouver/Greenland.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714184902/https://www.hiddenjourneys.co.uk/London-Vancouver/Greenland.aspx |archive-date=14 July 2014 |access-date=8 July 2014 |website=Hidden Journeys – explore the world from the air}}</ref> and the third largest area in North America after Canada and the United States.<ref>{{Cite journal |year=2008 |title=Demographic Yearbook – Table 3: Population by sex, rate of population increase, surface area, and density |url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2008/Table03.pdf |url-status=live |journal=[[United Nations Statistics Division]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224062814/http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2008/Table03.pdf |archive-date=24 December 2010 |access-date=24 September 2010}}</ref> It is between latitudes [[59th parallel north|59°]] and [[83rd parallel north|83°N]], and longitudes [[11th meridian west|11°]] and [[74th meridian west|74°W]]. Over 80% of Greenland lies north of the [[Arctic Circle]]. Greenland is bordered by the [[Arctic Ocean]] to the north, the [[Greenland Sea]] to the east, the North [[Atlantic Ocean]] to the southeast, the [[Davis Strait]] to the southwest, [[Baffin Bay]] to the west, the [[Nares Strait]] and [[Lincoln Sea]] to the northwest. The nearest countries to Greenland are Canada, with which it shares a [[Maritime boundary|maritime border]], to the west and southwest across Nares Strait and Baffin Bay, as well as a shared land border on [[Hans Island]];<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2022/06/boundary-dispute.html |title=Boundary dispute |publisher=[[Global Affairs Canada]] |access-date=17 July 2023 |date=14 June 2022 |archive-date=16 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616002309/https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2022/06/boundary-dispute.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and Iceland, southeast of Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean. Greenland also contains the [[Northeast Greenland National Park|world's largest national park]]; it is the [[list of countries and dependencies by area|largest]] constituent country by area in the world and is the [[List of the largest country subdivisions by area|fourth largest country subdivision in the world]], after [[Sakha Republic]] in Russia, Australia's state of [[Western Australia]], and Russia's [[Krasnoyarsk Krai]], and the largest in North America.

The lowest temperature ever recorded in the [[Northern Hemisphere]] was recorded in Greenland, near the topographic summit of the [[Greenland Ice Sheet]], on 22 December 1991, when the temperature reached {{convert|-69.6|C}}.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://public-old.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/wmo-verifies-696%C2%B0c-greenland-temperature-northern-hemisphere-record |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231218173115/https://public-old.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/wmo-verifies-696%C2%B0c-greenland-temperature-northern-hemisphere-record |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 December 2023 |title=WMO verifies −69.6°C Greenland temperature as Northern hemisphere record |date=22 September 2020 |website=World Meteorological Organization}}</ref> In Nuuk, the average daily temperature varies over the seasons from {{convert|-5.1|to|9.9|C}}.<ref>{{Cite web |publisher=Yu Media Group |title=Nuuk, Greenland – Detailed climate information and monthly weather forecast |url=https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/greenland/nuuk-climate |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817152132/https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/greenland/nuuk-climate |archive-date=17 August 2019 |access-date=17 August 2019 |website=Weather Atlas |language=en}}</ref> The total area of Greenland is {{convert|2166086|km2|abbr=on}} (including other offshore minor islands), of which the [[Greenland ice sheet]] covers {{convert|1755637|km2|abbr=on}} (81%) and has a volume of approximately {{convert|2850000|km3|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=IPCC Climate Change 2001: Working Group I: The Scientific Basis |url=http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/412.htm#tab113 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071216235037/http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/412.htm |archive-date=16 December 2007 |access-date=6 September 2010 |publisher=Grida.no}}</ref> The highest point on Greenland is [[Gunnbjørn Fjeld]] at {{convert|3700|m|abbr=on}} of the [[Watkins Range]] ([[East Greenland mountain range]]). The majority of Greenland, however, is less than {{convert|1500|m|abbr=on}} in elevation.

Below the ice there is a series of canyons, the biggest called [[Grand Canyon (Greenland)|Greenland's Grand Canyon]] which was formed by flowing rivers of water from the repeated cycle of ice melting and new ice forming.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Keisling |first1=Benjamin |last2=Nielsen |first2=Lisbeth |last3=Hvidberg |first3=Christine |last4=Nuterman |first4=Roman |last5=DeConto |first5=Robert |title=Pliocene–Pleistocene megafloods as a mechanism for Greenlandic megacanyon formation |journal=GeoScienceWorld |date=2020 |volume=48 |issue=7 |pages=737–741 |doi=10.1130/G47253.1 |bibcode=2020Geo....48..737K |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/48/7/737/584570/Pliocene-Pleistocene-megafloods-as-a-mechanism-for |access-date=19 November 2024}}</ref>
Near the coast elevations rise suddenly and steeply.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schneider |first=D. |year=2003 |title=American Scientist Online&nbsp;– Greenland or Whiteland? |url=http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/2003/9/greenland-or-whiteland |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510013154/http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/2003/9/greenland-or-whiteland |archive-date=10 May 2011 |access-date=3 March 2008 |publisher=Sigma Xi}}</ref>

The ice [[Ice-sheet dynamics|flows]] generally to the coast from the centre of the island. A survey led by French scientist [[Paul-Emile Victor]] in 1951 concluded that, under the ice sheet, Greenland is composed of three large islands.<ref name="ellensburg">{{cite news |title=Find Greenland Icecap Bridges Three Islands |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=860&dat=19511024&id=pWwKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xEoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5335,4712968 |access-date=13 May 2012 |agency=[[The Associated Press]] |issue=97 |publisher=[[Ellensburg Daily Record]] |date=24 October 1951 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412192018/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=860&dat=19511024&id=pWwKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xEoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5335,4712968 |archive-date=12 April 2016 |page=6 |url-status=live}}</ref> This is disputed, but if it is so, they would be separated by narrow straits, reaching the sea at [[Ilulissat Icefjord]], at [[Greenland's Grand Canyon]] and south of [[Nordostrundingen]].

All [[List of cities and towns in Greenland|towns and settlements of Greenland]] are situated along the ice-free coast, with the population being concentrated along the west coast. The northeastern part of Greenland is not part of any municipality, but it is the site of the world's largest national park, [[Northeast Greenland National Park]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The National Park |url=http://www.greenland.com/en/about-greenland/natur-klima/nationalparken.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627011801/http://www.greenland.com/en/about-greenland/natur-klima/nationalparken.aspx |archive-date=27 June 2013 |access-date=18 June 2013 |publisher=Greenland.com}}</ref>

{{Multiple image
| image1            = Knud Rasmussen 01.jpg
| image2            = Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen by Marius Christensen 02 cropped.jpg
| caption1          = Polar explorer and anthropologist [[Knud Rasmussen]] (1879–1933), called the "father of [[Eskimology]]", was the first to explore the Greenland ice sheet by [[dog sled]].
| caption2          = [[Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen]] (1872–1907), who died while commander of the 1906–1908 [[Denmark expedition]], documenting vast areas of unexplored coastlines and fjords
}}

At least four scientific expedition stations and camps had been established on the ice sheet in the ice-covered central part of Greenland (indicated as pale blue in the adjacent map): [[Eismitte]], [[North Ice]], North GRIP Camp and The Raven Skiway. There is a year-round station [[Summit Camp]] on the ice sheet, established in 1989. The radio station [[Jørgen Brønlund Fjord]] was, until 1950, the northernmost permanent outpost in the world.

The extreme north of Greenland, [[Peary Land]], is not covered by an ice sheet, because the air there is too dry to produce snow, which is essential in the production and maintenance of an ice sheet.

In 2007, the existence of a new island was announced. Named "[[Uunartoq Qeqertaq]]" (English: ''Warming Island''), this island has always been present off the coast of Greenland but was covered by a glacier. This glacier was discovered in 2002 to be shrinking rapidly, and by 2007 had completely melted away, leaving the exposed island.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McCarthy |first=Michael |date=24 April 2007 |title=An island made by global warming |work=The Independent |location=London |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/climate_change/article2480994.ece |access-date=4 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830030612/http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/climate_change/article2480994.ece |archive-date=30 August 2008}}</ref> The island was named Place of the Year by the Oxford Atlas of the World in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 December 2007 |title=Place of the Year |url=http://blog.oup.com/2007/12/place_of_the_year |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015151345/http://blog.oup.com/2007/12/place_of_the_year/ |archive-date=15 October 2009 |access-date=6 September 2010 |publisher=Blog.oup.com}}</ref> Ben Keene, the atlas's editor, commented:
{{Blockquote|In the last two or three decades, global warming has reduced the size of glaciers throughout the [[Arctic]] and earlier this year, news sources confirmed what climate scientists already knew: water, not rock, lay beneath this [[ice bridge]] on the east coast of Greenland. More islets are likely to appear as the sheet of frozen water covering the world's largest island continues to melt.<ref>Publications, Usa Int'L Business. Denmark Company Laws and Regulations Handbook: Strategic Information and Basic Laws. Place of Publication Not Identified: Intl Business Pubns Usa, 2015. 20–21. Print.</ref>}} Some controversy surrounds the history of the island, specifically over whether the island might have been revealed during a brief warm period in Greenland during the mid-20th&nbsp;century.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Revkin |first=Andrew C. |date=28 April 2008 |title=Arctic Explorer Rebuts 'Warming Island' Critique |url=http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/arctic-explorer-rebuts-critique-of-warming-island/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100927055552/http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/arctic-explorer-rebuts-critique-of-warming-island/ |archive-date=27 September 2010 |access-date=6 September 2010 |website=The New York Times}}</ref>

=== Northernmost land ===
{{Main|Northernmost point of land}}
The northernmost point of land on Earth was long thought to be [[Cape Morris Jesup]] at the northern tip of mainland Greenland. However, in 1969 a Canadian team surveyed [[Kaffeklubben Island]] (latitude 83°&nbsp;39′&nbsp;45″ N), which was first recorded in 1900 and first visited in 1921, and determined that its northernmost point is 750 m north of Cape Morris Jesup. It is thus the northernmost undisputed permanent land.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kaffeklubben Island {{!}} Island in Arctic Circle, History |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Kaffeklubben-Island |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=Britannica |language=en}}</ref>

Other points have been claimed to be the northernmost point, with dispute over the title arising from [[ice sheet]]s, water movement and inundation, and storm activity that may build, shift, or destroy banks of gravelly [[moraine]] material. In 1978 Uffe Petersen, a member of the [[Danish Geodesic Institute|Danish Geodetic Institute]], discovered [[Oodaaq|Oodaaq Island]] at 83°&nbsp;40'&nbsp;32.5"&nbsp;N. Its last confirmed sighting was in 1979.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jancik |first=John |date=2004 |title=Jensenland, historical timeline of the search for the northernmost point of land on Earth |url=https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12200425000/Jensenland-Historical-Timeline-of-the-Search-for-the-Northernmost-Point-of-Land-on-Earth |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=American Alpine Club}}</ref> In 2003, a small protrusion of rocks and boulders, {{convert|35|x|15|m|abbr=on}} in length and width, was discovered by Arctic explorer [[Dennis Schmitt]] and his team at latitude 83°&nbsp;42'&nbsp;N and unofficially named [[83-42]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Burress |first=Charles |date=2004-06-17 |title=BERKELEY / Romancing the north / Berkeley explorer may have stepped on ancient Thule |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/BERKELEY-Romancing-the-north-Berkeley-2748730.php |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=SFGATE |language=en}}</ref> Whether this land is permanent is uncertain; a 2022 bathymetric survey determined that it was likely ''not'' connected to the seafloor, but rather rocky material on top of sea ice, and thus not land.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-09-25 |title=The 'Northernmost Island in the World' is actually an iceberg |url=https://www.leister-group.com/en/Stories/2022-15-09-LAG-Greenland-Expedition-2022 |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=LeisterGroup |language=en}}</ref>

===Climate change===
{{See also|Climate change in the Arctic|Sea level rise}}{{Multiple image
| image1            = Greenland Meltdown 08072012 12072012.jpg
| image2            = Höning 2023 GIS thresholds.jpg
| caption1          = 2012 NASA graphics show the extent of a then-record melting event
| caption2          = Potential equilibrium states of the ice sheet in response to different equilibrium carbon dioxide concentrations in parts per million, 2023<ref name="Höning2023">{{Cite journal |last1=Höning |first1=Dennis |last2=Willeit |first2=Matteo |last3=Calov |first3=Reinhard |last4=Klemann |first4=Volker |last5=Bagge |first5=Meike |last6=Ganopolski |first6=Andrey |date=27 March 2023 |title=Multistability and Transient Response of the Greenland Ice Sheet to Anthropogenic CO2 Emissions |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |volume=50 |issue=6 |page=e2022GL101827 |doi=10.1029/2022GL101827 |s2cid=257774870}}</ref>
}}

The Greenland ice sheet always loses some mass from [[ice calving]] at its coasts, but it used to balance this on average by the accumulation of snowfall.<ref name="Noël2021">{{Cite journal |last1=Noël |first1=B. |last2=van Kampenhout |first2=L. |last3=Lenaerts |first3=J. T. M. |last4=van de Berg |first4=W. J. |last5=van den Broeke |first5=M. R. |date=19 January 2021 |title=A 21st Century Warming Threshold for Sustained Greenland Ice Sheet Mass Loss |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |volume=48 |issue=5 |page=e2020GL090471 |doi=10.1029/2020GL090471 |bibcode=2021GeoRL..4890471N |hdl=2268/301943 |s2cid=233632072 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> However, Greenland has been warming since around 1900,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kjeldsen |first1=Kristian K. |last2=Korsgaard |first2=Niels J. |last3=Bjørk |first3=Anders A. |last4=Khan |first4=Shfaqat A. |last5=Box |first5=Jason E. |last6=Funder |first6=Svend |last7=Larsen |first7=Nicolaj K. |last8=Bamber |first8=Jonathan L. |last9=Colgan |first9=William |last10=van den Broeke |first10=Michiel |last11=Siggaard-Andersen |first11=Marie-Louise |last12=Nuth |first12=Christopher |last13=Schomacker |first13=Anders |last14=Andresen |first14=Camilla S. |last15=Willerslev |first15=Eske |last16=Kjær |first16=Kurt H. |date=16 December 2015 |title=Spatial and temporal distribution of mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet since AD 1900 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=528 |issue=7582 |pages=396–400 |doi=10.1038/nature16183 |pmid=26672555 |bibcode=2015Natur.528..396K |hdl=1874/329934 |s2cid=4468824 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> and starting in the 1980s, the losses became larger than the gains.<ref name="Mouginot2019">{{cite journal |last1=Mouginot |first1=Jérémie |last2=Rignot |first2=Eric |last3=Bjørk |first3=Anders A. |last4=van den Broeke |first4=Michiel |last5=Millan |first5=Romain |last6=Morlighem |first6=Mathieu |last7=Noël |first7=Brice |last8=Scheuchl |first8=Bernd |last9=Wood |first9=Michael |title=Forty-six years of Greenland Ice Sheet mass balance from 1972 to 2018 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=20 March 2019 |volume=116 |issue=19 |pages=9239–9244 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1904242116 |pmid=31010924 |pmc=6511040 |bibcode=2019PNAS..116.9239M |doi-access=free}}</ref> After 1996, Greenland has not had a single year when it did not lose mass on average.<ref name="CB2022">{{cite web |last1=Stendel |first1=Martin |last2=Mottram |first2=Ruth |date=22 September 2022 |title=Guest post: How the Greenland ice sheet fared in 2022 |url=https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-how-the-greenland-ice-sheet-fared-in-2022/ |website=[[Carbon Brief]] |access-date=2022-10-22 |archive-date=22 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221022153851/https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-how-the-greenland-ice-sheet-fared-in-2022/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In the 2010s, the Greenland ice sheet melted at its fastest rate during at least the past 12,000 years, and is on track to exceed that later in the century.<ref name="Briner2020">{{cite journal |last1=Briner |first1=Jason P. |last2=Cuzzone |first2=Joshua K. |last3=Badgeley |first3=Jessica A. |last4=Young |first4=Nicolás E. |last5=Steig |first5=Eric J. |last6=Morlighem |first6=Mathieu |last7=Schlegel |first7=Nicole-Jeanne |last8=Hakim |first8=Gregory J. |last9=Schaefer |first9=Joerg M. |last10=Johnson |first10=Jesse V. |last11=Lesnek |first11=Alia J. |last12=Thomas |first12=Elizabeth K. |last13=Allan |first13=Estelle |last14=Bennike |first14=Ole |last15=Cluett |first15=Allison A. |last16=Csatho |first16=Beata |last17=de Vernal |first17=Anne |last18=Downs |first18=Jacob |last19=Larour |first19=Eric |last20=Nowicki |first20=Sophie |date=30 September 2020 |title=Rate of mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet will exceed Holocene values this century |journal=Nature |volume=586 |issue=7827 |pages=70–74 |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-2742-6 |pmid=32999481 |bibcode=2020Natur.586...70B |s2cid=222147426}}</ref> In 2012, 2019 and 2021, so-called "massive melting events" occurred, when practically the entire surface of the ice sheet was melting and no accumulation took place.<ref>{{cite web |date=23 September 2013 |title=Greenland enters melt mode |url=http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/342767/title/Greenland_enters_melt_mode |work=Science News |access-date=14 August 2012 |archive-date=5 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120805043523/http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/342767/title/Greenland_enters_melt_mode |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="phys-Greenland">{{cite news |title=Record melt: Greenland lost 586 billion tons of ice in 2019 |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-08-greenland-lost-billion-tons-ice.html |access-date=6 September 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en |archive-date=13 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913083740/https://phys.org/news/2020-08-greenland-lost-billion-tons-ice.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="MeltEvents">{{Cite web |last=Barnes |first=Adam |date=9 August 2021 |title='Massive melting event' torpedoes billions of tons of ice the whole world depends on |url=https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/climate-change/566950-massive-melting-event-torpedoes-billions-of |work=The Hill |quote=Ice cores show that these widespread melt events were really rare prior to the 21st century, but since then, we have had several melt seasons. |access-date=24 August 2021 |archive-date=25 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825031801/https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/climate-change/566950-massive-melting-event-torpedoes-billions-of |url-status=live}}</ref> During the 2021 event, rain fell at Greenland's highest point for the first time in recorded history, an event so unexpected that the research station at the summit had no [[rain gauge]]s for the occasion.<ref name="waPoRain">{{Cite news |last=Patel |first=Kasha |date=19 August 2021 |title=Rain falls at the summit of Greenland Ice Sheet for first time on record |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/08/19/greenland-melt-august-summit-rain/ |newspaper=Washington Post |quote=Rain fell on and off for 13 hours at the station, but staff are not certain exactly how much rain fell...there are no rain gauges at the summit because no one expected it to rain at this altitude. |access-date=24 August 2021 |archive-date=19 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819221317/https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/08/19/greenland-melt-august-summit-rain/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

As with the ice loss elsewhere, the melting of Greenland contributes to sea level rise. Between 2012 and 2017, this melting added an average of 0.68&nbsp;mm per year,<ref name="Shepherd2020">{{Cite journal |last1=Shepherd |first1=Andrew |last2=Ivins |first2=Erik |last3=Rignot |first3=Eric |last4=Smith |first4=Ben |last5=van den Broeke |first5=Michiel |last6=Velicogna |first6=Isabella |author-link6=Isabella Velicogna |last7=Whitehouse |first7=Pippa |last8=Briggs |first8=Kate |last9=Joughin |first9=Ian |last10=Krinner |first10=Gerhard |last11=Nowicki |first11=Sophie |date=12 March 2020 |title=Mass balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet from 1992 to 2018 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=579 |issue=7798 |pages=233–239 |doi=10.1038/s41586-019-1855-2 |pmid=31822019 |hdl=2268/242139 |s2cid=219146922 |issn=1476-4687 |url=https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/242139 |access-date=23 October 2022 |archive-date=23 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221023151210/https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/242139 |url-status=live |hdl-access=free}}</ref> equal to 37% of sea level rise from land ice sources (excluding thermal expansion of water from the continual increase in the [[ocean heat content]]).<ref name="Bamber2018">{{cite journal |last1=Bamber |first1=Jonathan L |last2=Westaway |first2=Richard M |last3=Marzeion |first3=Ben |last4=Wouters |first4=Bert |title=The land ice contribution to sea level during the satellite era |journal=Environmental Research Letters |date=1 June 2018 |volume=13 |issue=6 |page=063008 |doi=10.1088/1748-9326/aac2f0 |bibcode=2018ERL....13f3008B |doi-access=free |hdl=1983/58218615-dedd-43a8-a8ea-79fb83130613 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> By the end of the century, the melting of Greenland alone will add between ~{{cvt|6|cm|in|frac=2}} if the temperature change is kept below {{convert|2|C-change|F-change}}, to around {{cvt|13|cm|in|frac=2}} if the most intense [[climate change scenario]] with ever-increasing [[greenhouse gas emissions]] is followed.<ref name="IPCC AR6 WG1 Ch.9">{{Cite book |last1=Fox-Kemper |first1=B. |last2=Hewitt |first2=H.T. |author2-link=Helene Hewitt |last3=Xiao |first3=C. |last4=Aðalgeirsdóttir |first4=G. |last5=Drijfhout |first5=S.S. |last6=Edwards |first6=T.L. |last7=Golledge |first7=N.R. |last8=Hemer |first8=M. |last9=Kopp |first9=R.E. |last10=Krinner |first10=G. |last11=Mix |first11=A. |date=2021 |editor-last=Masson-Delmotte |editor-first=V. |editor2-last=Zhai |editor2-first=P. |editor3-last=Pirani |editor3-first=A. |editor4-last=Connors |editor4-first=S.L. |editor5-last=Péan |editor5-first=C. |editor6-last=Berger |editor6-first=S. |editor7-last=Caud |editor7-first=N. |editor8-last=Chen |editor8-first=Y. |editor9-last=Goldfarb |editor9-first=L. |chapter=Chapter 9: Ocean, Cryosphere and Sea Level Change |title=Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |chapter-url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter09.pdf |publisher=Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, US |access-date=22 October 2022 |archive-date=24 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024162651/https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter09.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|1302}} Under this scenario, the worst case for Greenland melting could reach {{cvt|33|cm|in|frac=2}} of sea level rise equivalent.<ref name="Aschwanden2019">{{Cite journal |last1=Aschwanden |first1=Andy |last2=Fahnestock |first2=Mark A. |last3=Truffer |first3=Martin |last4=Brinkerhoff |first4=Douglas J. |last5=Hock |first5=Regine |last6=Khroulev |first6=Constantine |last7=Mottram |first7=Ruth |last8=Khan |first8=S. Abbas |date=19 June 2019 |title=Contribution of the Greenland Ice Sheet to sea level over the next millennium |journal=Science Advances |volume=5 |issue=6 |pages=218–222 |language=EN |doi=10.1126/sciadv.aav9396 |pmid=31223652 |pmc=6584365 |bibcode=2019SciA....5.9396A}}</ref> The large quantities of fresh [[meltwater]] also affect the [[Atlantic meridional overturning circulation]] (AMOC) by diluting key currents, slowing it down.<ref name=PhysorgJan2016>{{cite web |date=22 January 2016 |title=Melting Greenland ice sheet may affect global ocean circulation, future climate |url=http://phys.org/news/2016-01-greenland-ice-sheet-affect-global.html |publisher=Phys.org |access-date=25 January 2016 |archive-date=19 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230819184753/https://phys.org/news/2016-01-greenland-ice-sheet-affect-global.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Qian |last2=Dixon |first2=Timothy H. |last3=Myers |first3=Paul G. |last4=Bonin |first4=Jennifer |last5=Chambers |first5=Don |last6=van den Broeke |first6=M. R. |last7=Ribergaard |first7=Mads H. |last8=Mortensen |first8=John |title=Recent increases in Arctic freshwater flux affects Labrador Sea convection and Atlantic overturning circulation |journal=Nature Communications |date=22 January 2016 |volume=7 |page=10525 |doi=10.1038/ncomms10525 |pmid=26796579 |pmc=4736158 |bibcode=2016NatCo...710525Y}}</ref> Due to this meltwater input, the circulation may even collapse outright with widespread detrimental effects, although research suggests this is likely only if the highest possible warming is sustained for multiple centuries.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bakker |first1=P |last2=Schmittner |first2=A |last3=Lenaerts |first3=JT |last4=Abe-Ouchi |first4=A |last5=Bi |first5=D |last6=van den Broeke |first6=MR |last7=Chan |first7=WL |last8=Hu |first8=A |last9=Beadling |first9=RL |last10=Marsland |first10=SJ |last11=Mernild |first11=SH |last12=Saenko |first12=OA |last13=Swingedouw |first13=D |last14=Sullivan |first14=A |last15=Yin |first15=J |date=11 November 2016 |title=Fate of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation: Strong decline under continued warming and Greenland melting |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |volume=43 |issue=23 |pages=12,252–12,260 |doi=10.1002/2016GL070457 |bibcode=2016GeoRL..4312252B |hdl=10150/622754 |s2cid=133069692 |hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Canadell |first1=J.G. |last2=Monteiro |first2=P.M.S. |last3=Costa |first3=M.H. |last4=Cotrim da Cunha |first4=L. |last5=Cox |first5=P.M. |last6=Eliseev |first6=A.V. |last7=Henson |first7=S. |last8=Ishii |first8=M. |last9=Jaccard |first9=S. |last10=Koven |first10=C. |last11=Lohila |first11=A. |editor-last=Masson-Delmotte |editor-first=V. |editor2-last=Zhai |editor2-first=P. |editor3-last=Piran |editor3-first=A. |editor4-last=Connors |editor4-first=S.L. |editor5-last=Péan |editor5-first=C. |editor6-last=Berger |editor6-first=S. |editor7-last=Caud |editor7-first=N. |editor8-last=Chen |editor8-first=Y. |editor9-last=Goldfarb |editor9-first=L. |chapter=Global Carbon and Other Biogeochemical Cycles and Feedbacks |chapter-url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter05.pdf |title=Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |year=2021 |pages=673–816 |doi=10.1017/9781009157896.007 |bibcode=2021AGUFM.U13B..05K |access-date=20 March 2024 |archive-date=6 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406183849/https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter05.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

Greenland's ice sheet has a volume of ~{{convert|2900000|km3|cumi|-3}}. This means that if it were all to melt, global sea level would increase by ~{{convert|7.4|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} from that event alone.<ref name="BBC2017">{{cite web |title=How Greenland would look without its ice sheet |date=14 December 2017 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42260580 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |access-date=7 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207201039/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42260580 |url-status=live}}</ref> However, it also means that it will take at least 1,000 years for the ice sheet to disappear even with very high rates of global warming,<ref name="Aschwanden2019" /> and in around 10,000 years under lower rates of warming which still cross the threshold for the ice sheet's disappearance.<ref name="ArmstrongMcKay2022">{{Cite journal |last1=Armstrong McKay |first1=David |last2=Abrams |first2=Jesse |last3=Winkelmann |first3=Ricarda |last4=Sakschewski |first4=Boris |last5=Loriani |first5=Sina |last6=Fetzer |first6=Ingo |last7=Cornell |first7=Sarah |last8=Rockström |first8=Johan |last9=Staal |first9=Arie |last10=Lenton |first10=Timothy |date=9 September 2022 |title=Exceeding 1.5°C global warming could trigger multiple climate tipping points |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn7950 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=377 |issue=6611 |pages=eabn7950 |doi=10.1126/science.abn7950 |pmid=36074831 |hdl=10871/131584 |s2cid=252161375 |issn=0036-8075 |hdl-access=free |access-date=22 October 2022 |archive-date=14 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221114143835/https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn7950 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ArmstrongMcKay2022Explainer">{{Cite web |last=Armstrong McKay |first=David |date=9 September 2022 |title=Exceeding 1.5°C global warming could trigger multiple climate tipping points – paper explainer |url=https://climatetippingpoints.info/2022/09/09/climate-tipping-points-reassessment-explainer/ |access-date=2 October 2022 |website=climatetippingpoints.info |language=en |archive-date=18 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230718085705/https://climatetippingpoints.info/2022/09/09/climate-tipping-points-reassessment-explainer/ |url-status=live}}</ref> This threshold likely lies for between {{convert|1.7|C-change|F-change}} and {{convert|2.3|C-change|F-change}}. Reducing the warming back to {{convert|1.5|C-change|F-change}} or lower above preindustrial levels (such as through large-scale [[carbon dioxide removal]]) would arrest the losses, but still cause greater ultimate sea level rise than if the threshold had never been exceeded.<ref name="Bochow2023">{{cite journal |last1=Bochow |first1=Nils |last2=Poltronieri |first2=Anna |last3=Robinson |first3=Alexander |last4=Montoya |first4=Marisa |last5=Rypdal |first5=Martin |last6=Boers |first6=Niklas |date=18 October 2023 |title=Overshooting the critical threshold for the Greenland ice sheet |journal=Nature |volume=622 |issue=7983 |pages=528–536 |bibcode=2023Natur.622..528B |doi=10.1038/s41586-023-06503-9 |pmc=10584691 |pmid=37853149}}</ref> Further, {{convert|1.5|C-change|F-change}} itself appears to commit the Greenland ice sheet to {{cvt|1.4|m|ft|frac=2}} of sea level rise.<ref name="Christ2023">{{Cite journal |last1=Christ |first1=Andrew J. |last2=Rittenour |first2=Tammy M. |last3=Bierman |first3=Paul R. |last4=Keisling |first4=Benjamin A. |last5=Knutz |first5=Paul C. |last6=Thomsen |first6=Tonny B. |last7=Keulen |first7=Nynke |last8=Fosdick |first8=Julie C. |last9=Hemming |first9=Sidney R. |last10=Tison |first10=Jean-Louis |last11=Blard |first11=Pierre-Henri |last12=Steffensen |first12=Jørgen P. |last13=Caffee |first13=Marc W. |last14=Corbett |first14=Lee B. |last15=Dahl-Jensen |first15=Dorthe |last16=Dethier |first16=David P. |last17=Hidy |first17=Alan J. |last18=Perdrial |first18=Nicolas |last19=Peteet |first19=Dorothy M. |last20=Steig |first20=Eric J. |last21=Thomas |first21=Elizabeth K. |date=20 July 2023 |title=Deglaciation of northwestern Greenland during Marine Isotope Stage 11 |journal=Science |volume=381 |issue=6655 |pages=330–335 |doi=10.1126/science.ade4248 |pmid=37471537 |bibcode=2023Sci...381..330C |osti=1992577 |s2cid=259985096}}</ref>

A study published in January 2025 in the ''[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]]'' reported an "abrupt, coherent, climate-driven transformation" from "blue" (more transparent) to "brown" (less transparent) states of lakes in Greenland after a season of both record heat and rainfall drove a [[Tipping points in the climate system|state change]] in these systems.<ref name=PNAS_20250121/> This change was said to alter "numerous physical, chemical, and biological lake features", and the state changes were said to be unprecedented.<ref name=PNAS_20250121>{{cite journal |last1=Saros |first1=Jasmine E. |last2=Hazukova |first2=Vaclava |last3=Northington |first3=Robert M. |last4=McGowan |first4=Suzanne |title=Abrupt transformation of West Greenland lakes following compound climate extremes associated with atmospheric rivers |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |date=21 January 2025 |volume=122 |issue=4 |page=e2413855122 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2413855122 |pmid=39835905 |pmc=11789078 |bibcode=2025PNAS..12213855S}}</ref>

===Geology===
The island was part of the very ancient [[Precambrian]] continent of [[Laurentia]], the eastern core of which forms the Greenland Shield, while the less exposed coastal strips became a plateau. On these ice-free coastal strips are sediments formed in the [[Precambrian]], overprinted by metamorphism and now formed by glaciers, which continue into the [[Cenozoic]] and [[Mesozoic]] in parts of the island.

In the east and west of Greenland there are remnants of flood [[basalts]] and igneous intrusions, such as the [[Skaergaard intrusion]]. Notable rock provinces ([[metamorphic]] igneous rocks, ultramafics, and anorthosites) are found on the southwest coast at Qeqertarsuatsiaat. East of Nuuk, the banded iron ore region of Isukasia, over three billion years old, contains the world's oldest rocks, such as greenlandite (a rock composed predominantly of hornblende and hyperthene), formed 3.8 billion years ago,<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 March 2013 |title=Banded iron formation (BIF) deposits |url=http://www.geus.dk/minex/go_fs16.pdf |access-date=20 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309083735/http://www.geus.dk/minex/go_fs16.pdf |archive-date=9 March 2013}}</ref> and nuummite. In southern Greenland, the Illimaussaq alkaline complex consists of [[pegmatites]] such as nepheline, syenites (especially kakortokite or naujaite) and sodalite (sodalite-foya). In Ivittuut, where cryolite was formerly mined, there are [[fluoride]]-bearing pegmatites. To the north of Igaliku, there are the Gardar alkaline pegmatitic intrusions of augite syenite, gabbro, etc.

To the west and southwest are [[Palaeozoic]] carbonatite complexes at Kangerlussuaq (Gardiner complex) and Safartoq, and basic and ultrabasic igneous rocks at Uiffaq on Disko Island, where there are masses of heavy [[native iron]] up to {{convert|25|tonne|ST|abbr=on}} in the basalts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mineralienatlas – Fossilienatlas |url=https://www.mineralienatlas.de/lexikon/index.php/Gr%C3%B6nland?lang=de |access-date=20 April 2021 |website=www.mineralienatlas.de |language=de |archive-date=10 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610113248/https://www.mineralienatlas.de/lexikon/index.php/Gr%C3%B6nland?lang=de |url-status=live}}</ref>

The palaeontology of East Greenland is specially rich, with some of the early tetrapods such as the [[Acanthostega]] and [[Ichthyostega]] from the [[Devonian]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Marzola |first1=Marco |last2=Mateus |first2=Octávio |last3=Milàn |first3=Jesper |last4=Clemmensen |first4=Lars B. |date=2018-03-03 |title=A review of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic tetrapods from Greenland |journal=Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark |volume=66 |pages=21–46 |doi=10.37570/bgsd-2018-66-02 |issn=2245-7070 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2018BuGSD..66...21M}}</ref> and unique [[Triassic]] animals such as the phytosaur [[Mystriosuchus|''Mystriosuchus alleroq'']]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=López-Rojas |first1=Víctor |last2=Clemmensen |first2=Lars B. |last3=Milàn |first3=Jesper |last4=Wings |first4=Oliver |last5=Klein |first5=Nicole |last6=Mateus |first6=Octávio |date=2022-09-30 |title=A new phytosaur species (Archosauriformes) from the Upper Triassic of Jameson Land, central East Greenland |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |language=en |volume=42 |issue=3 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2023.2181086 |s2cid=257756028 |issn=0272-4634 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2022JVPal..42E1086L}}</ref> and the dinosaurs [[Issi|''Issi saaneq'']]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Beccari |first1=Victor |last2=Mateus |first2=Octávio |last3=Wings |first3=Oliver |last4=Milàn |first4=Jesper |last5=Clemmensen |first5=Lars B. |date=November 2021 |title=Issi saaneq gen. et sp. nov.—A New Sauropodomorph Dinosaur from the Late Triassic (Norian) of Jameson Land, Central East Greenland |journal=Diversity |language=en |volume=13 |issue=11 |pages=561 |doi=10.3390/d13110561 |issn=1424-2818 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2021Diver..13..561B |hdl=10362/128951 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> and tracks.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lallensack |first1=Jens |last2=Klein |first2=Hendrik |last3=Milán |first3=Jesper |last4=Wings |first4=Oliver |last5=Mateus |first5=Octávio |last6=Clemmensen |first6=Lars |date=2017 |title=Sauropodomorph dinosaur trackways from the Fleming Fjord Formation of East Greenland: evidence for Late Triassic sauropods |journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |volume=62 |doi=10.4202/app.00374.2017 |s2cid=91179289 |issn=0567-7920 |doi-access=free |hdl=10362/33146 |hdl-access=free}}</ref>

===Biodiversity===
{{See also|Flora and fauna of Greenland|Reindeer hunting in Greenland|Fishing industry in Greenland|Whaling#Greenland}}{{Multiple image
| image1            = Greenland-musk-ox hg.jpg
| image2            = Greenland 377 (34999131992).jpg
| caption1          = Greenlandic muskoxen at King Oscar Fjord
| caption2          = The [[Greenland Dog]] was brought from [[Siberia]] around 1000 AD.
| perrow            = 2/1
}}
Greenland is home to two ecoregions: [[Kalaallit Nunaat high arctic tundra]] and [[Kalaallit Nunaat low arctic tundra]].<ref name="DinersteinOlson2017">{{cite journal |last1=Dinerstein |first1=Eric |last2=Olson |first2=David |last3=Joshi |first3=Anup |last4=Vynne |first4=Carly |last5=Burgess |first5=Neil D. |last6=Wikramanayake |first6=Eric |last7=Hahn |first7=Nathan |last8=Palminteri |first8=Suzanne |last9=Hedao |first9=Prashant|last10=Noss|first10=Reed |last11=Hansen |first11=Matt |last12=Locke |first12=Harvey |last13=Ellis |first13=Erle C |last14=Jones |first14=Benjamin |last15=Barber |first15=Charles Victor |last16=Hayes |first16=Randy |last17=Kormos |first17=Cyril |last18=Martin |first18=Vance |last19=Crist |first19=Eileen|last20=Sechrest|first20=Wes |last21=Price |first21=Lori |last22=Baillie |first22=Jonathan E. M. |last23=Weeden |first23=Don |last24=Suckling |first24=Kierán |last25=Davis |first25=Crystal |last26=Sizer |first26=Nigel |last27=Moore |first27=Rebecca |last28=Thau |first28=David |last29=Birch |first29=Tanya|last30=Potapov|first30=Peter |last31=Turubanova |first31=Svetlana |last32=Tyukavina |first32=Alexandra |last33=de Souza |first33=Nadia |last34=Pintea |first34=Lilian |last35=Brito |first35=José C. |last36=Llewellyn |first36=Othman A. |last37=Miller |first37=Anthony G. |last38=Patzelt |first38=Annette |last39=Ghazanfar |first39=Shahina A.|last40=Timberlake|first40=Jonathan |last41=Klöser |first41=Heinz |last42=Shennan-Farpón |first42=Yara |last43=Kindt |first43=Roeland |last44=Lillesø |first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow |last45=van Breugel |first45=Paulo |last46=Graudal |first46=Lars |last47=Voge |first47=Maianna |last48=Al-Shammari |first48=Khalaf F. |last49=Saleem |first49=Muhammad |title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm |journal=BioScience |volume=67 |issue=6 |year=2017 |pages=534–545 |issn=0006-3568 |doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014 |pmid=28608869 |pmc=5451287 |doi-access=free}}</ref> There are approximately 700 known species of insects in Greenland, which is low compared with other countries (over one million species have been described worldwide). The sea is rich in fish and invertebrates, especially in the milder [[West Greenland Current]]; a large part of the Greenland fauna is associated with marine-based food chains, including large colonies of seabirds. The few native land mammals in Greenland include the [[polar bear]], [[Reindeer hunting in Greenland#Three subspecies in Greenland|reindeer]] (introduced by Europeans), [[arctic fox]], [[arctic hare]], [[musk ox]], [[Northern collared lemming|collared lemming]], [[Stoat|ermine]], and [[arctic wolf]]. The last four are found naturally only in [[East Greenland]], having immigrated from [[Ellesmere Island]]. There are dozens of species of [[Pinniped|seals]] and [[whale]]s along the coast. Land fauna consists predominantly of animals which have spread from [[North America]] or, in the case of many [[birds]] and [[insects]], from [[Europe]]. There are no native or free-living [[reptiles]] or [[amphibians]] on the island.<ref name="wildlife">{{Cite web |year=2014 |title=Greenland Wildlife |url=http://www.denstoredanske.dk/Natur_og_miljø/Zoologi/Dyreliv:_Danmark,_Færøerne,_Grønland/Grønland_(Dyreliv) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313204254/http://denstoredanske.dk/Natur_og_milj%C3%B8/Zoologi/Dyreliv:_Danmark,_F%C3%A6r%C3%B8erne,_Gr%C3%B8nland/Gr%C3%B8nland_(Dyreliv) |archive-date=13 March 2016 |access-date=8 October 2015 |website=Redaction |publisher=The Great Danish Encyclopedia}}</ref>

[[Phytogeography|Phytogeographically]], Greenland belongs to the Arctic province of the [[Circumboreal Region]] within the [[Boreal Kingdom]]. The island is sparsely populated in vegetation; plant life consists mainly of grassland and small shrubs, which are regularly grazed by livestock. The most common tree native to Greenland is the European white birch (''[[Betula pubescens]]'') along with grey-leaf willow (''[[Salix glauca]]''), rowan (''[[Sorbus aucuparia]]''), common juniper (''[[Juniperus communis]]'') and other smaller trees, mainly willows.

Greenland's flora consists of about 500 species of "higher" plants, such as [[flowering plant]]s, [[fern]]s, [[horsetail]]s and [[lycopodiophyta]]. Of the other groups, the [[lichen]]s are the most diverse, with about 950 species; there are 600–700 species of fungi; [[moss]]es and [[bryophyte]]s are also found. Most of Greenland's higher plants have [[wikt:Special:Search/circumpolar|circumpolar]] or [[circumboreal]] distributions; only a dozen species of [[saxifrage]] and [[hawkweed]] are [[endemic]]. A few plant species were introduced by the Norsemen, such as [[Vicia cracca|cow vetch]].

[[File:Tail_of_Humpback_Whale_Megaptera_novaeangliae_in_Disko_Bay_Greenland_-_Buiobuone_02.jpg|thumb|[[Humpback whale]] in [[Disko Bay]] near [[Ilulissat]] (Jacobshavn''')''']]
The terrestrial vertebrates of Greenland include the [[Greenland dog]], which was introduced by the [[Inuit]], as well as [[Ethnic groups in Europe|European]]-introduced species such as [[Greenlandic sheep]], [[goat]]s, [[cattle]], [[reindeer]], [[horse]], [[chicken]] and [[sheepdog]], all descendants of animals imported by Europeans.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}} [[Marine mammals]] include the [[hooded seal]] (''Cystophora cristata'') as well as the [[grey seal]] (''Halichoerus grypus'').<ref name="brit1911">"Greenland". ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', Eleventh Edition.</ref> [[Whale]]s frequently pass very close to Greenland's shores in the late summer and early autumn. Whale species include the [[beluga whale]], [[blue whale]], [[bowhead whale|Greenland whale]], [[fin whale]], [[humpback whale]], [[minke whale]], [[narwhal]], [[pilot whale]], [[sperm whale]].<ref name="guide">{{Cite web |date=n.d. |title=Animal life in Greenland – an introduction by the tourist board |url=http://www.greenland-guide.gl/animal_life.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427231950/http://www.greenland-guide.gl/animal_life.htm |archive-date=27 April 2012 |access-date=1 May 2012 |website=Greenland Guide |publisher=Narsaq Tourist Office}}</ref>

As of 2009, 269 species of fish from over 80 different families are known from the waters surrounding Greenland. Almost all are marine species with only a few in freshwater, such as [[Atlantic salmon]] and [[Salvelinus|charr]].<ref name="Moller2010">{{Cite journal |last1=Møller |first1=P. R. |last2=Nielsen |first2=J. |last3=Knudsen |first3=S. W. |last4=Poulsen |first4=J. Y. |last5=Sünksen |first5=K. |last6=Jørgensen |first6=O. A. |year=2010 |title=A checklist of the fish fauna of Greenland waters |url= https://www.mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.2378.1.1 |journal=Zootaxa |volume=2378 |issue=1 |pages=1–84 |isbn=978-1-86977-468-4 |oclc=551668689}}</ref> The [[fishing industry]] is the primary industry of Greenland's economy, accounting for the majority of territory's total exports.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Economy and Industry in Greenland – Naalakkersuisut |url=https://naalakkersuisut.gl/en/About-government-of-greenland/About-Greenland/Economy-and-Industry-in-Greenland |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402143435/https://naalakkersuisut.gl/en/About-government-of-greenland/About-Greenland/Economy-and-Industry-in-Greenland |archive-date=2 April 2019 |access-date=17 August 2019 |website=naalakkersuisut.gl}}</ref>

Birds, particularly seabirds, are an important part of Greenland's animal life; they consist of both [[Palearctic realm|Palearctic]] and [[Nearctic realm|Nearctic]] species, breeding populations of [[auk]]s, [[puffin]]s, [[skua]]s, and [[kittiwake]]s are found on steep mountainsides.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Durinck |first1=Jan |last2=Falk |first2=Knud |date=1996 |title=The distribution and abundance of seabirds off southwestern Greenland in autumn and winter 1988-1989 |journal=[[Polar Research]] |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=23–42 |doi=10.3402/polar.v15i1.6634 |bibcode=1996PolRe..15...23D |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mehlum |first=Fridtjof |title=Summer distribution of seabirds in northern Greenland and Barents Seas |series=Skrifter |volume=191 |publisher=[[Norwegian Polar Institute|Norsk Polarinstitutt]] |isbn=82-90307-53-5 |date=April 1989}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://peakvisor.com/adm/greenland-2184073.html#ecology |title=Greenland |publisher=PeakVisor |access-date=October 2, 2023 |archive-date=12 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012113809/https://peakvisor.com/adm/greenland-2184073.html#ecology |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |url=https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/items/e2bbfd7c-6668-4b3e-aa1a-a7fc65497bfd |title=Seabird Harvest in the Arctic – Prepared by the Circumpolar Seabird Group (CBird) |date=September 2008 |publisher=Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929122742/https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/items/e2bbfd7c-6668-4b3e-aa1a-a7fc65497bfd |archive-date=29 September 2023 |url-status=live |access-date=October 2, 2023}}</ref> Greenland's ducks and geese include [[common eider]], [[long-tailed duck]], [[king eider]], [[white-fronted goose]], [[pink-footed goose]] and [[barnacle goose]]. Breeding [[migratory birds]] include the [[snow bunting]], [[lapland bunting]], [[ringed plover]], [[red-throated loon]] and [[red-necked phalarope]]. Non-migratory land birds include the [[arctic redpoll]], [[Rock ptarmigan|ptarmigan]], [[short-eared owl]], [[snowy owl]], [[gyrfalcon]] and [[white-tailed eagle]].<ref name="wildlife" />
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