# When Greenland were actually Green **URL:** \ **Category:** Scuttlebutt\ **Created:** [December 8, 2022, 11:10am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/when-greenland-were-actually-green/64817 "2022-12-08T11:10:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ombugge](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/ombugge/32/11217_2.png) [@ombugge](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/ombugge)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 11:10am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/when-greenland-were-actually-green/64817/1 "2022-12-08T11:10:02Z")
Once upon a time even the NE coast of Greenland was fertile and teeming with life: > **[Oldest DNA reveals two-million-year-old lost world](https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63867164)** > > Genetic material extracted from soil has revealed the ancient plants and animals of North Greenland. But what caused this warm climate? Was it because of more CO2 in the atmosphere at that time, or because the Geographic North Pole has shifted since then? Or maybe because of continental drift? IOW; Greenland was much further away from the North Pole at the time? ---
**Author:** ![Lew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lew](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Lew)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2022, 9:33am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/when-greenland-were-actually-green/64817/2 "2022-12-09T09:33:53Z")
I did a fair bit of work on Palaeoecology and Palaeobiogeography with an Australian university, climate change, including faily dramatic change is normal, a static climate for any geologically significant period of time is rare depending on the degree of change considered. Reasons vary including vulcanism, solar activity, atmospheric gas and variations, bolide impacts, albedo changes, and many other factors. Magnetic poles move creating magnetic polar wander curves and can change the shape of the Van Allen Belt but geographical pole variation is so very rare. Plate drift rates vary but two million years is not much in geological time. Northern Hemisphere climatic variation is higher than the Southern Hemispre due to the proportion of continental surface to ocean. There are many papers on the Greenland topic you can choose your poison with those. I will NOT be drawn to comment on anthropogenic climate change models. ---
**Author:** ![spowiednick](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/spowiednick/32/35668_2.png) [@spowiednick](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/spowiednick)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 2:17am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/when-greenland-were-actually-green/64817/3 "2022-12-14T02:17:42Z")
2 mln years ago???..wow. How about only 800-1000 years ago : ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/gcaptain_maritime_forum/original/3X/4/4/44dfd794dfe57bf344f1bc474c3be5d0fd0181ea.png) ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/gcaptain_maritime_forum/original/3X/3/1/31b8c6de3da54f4cbef9d116dd2b587e44aeb1f9.png) ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/gcaptain_maritime_forum/original/3X/8/7/87a8d4ac488913909afefb1ac315f9ba8ef70007.png) QUOTE fm last source: In the cultural layers of medieval Gdańsk a signifcant number of remains of fruits and nuts have been preserved. Some of the fruit trees could have been cultivated in local gardens and orchards. Numerous Prunus fruitstones, including P. domestica and P. domestica ssp. insititia, were found in the 11th and 12th century samples from site 2, while other sites showed the presence of Malus sp., Pyrus sp., Cerasus vulgaris and C. avium. Ribes rubrum appeared in the 14th century. Remains of Vitis vinifera and Ficus carica have been found in the features dated to the 12th century and Persica vulgaris to the 12th/13th century transition. It is difcult to decide whether the grape pips are the remains of imported raisins (Gade 2018) \*\*\*or perhaps of locally grown \*\*\* \*\*\*grapes used to make the wine needed by the church. The \*\*\* \*\*\*historical sources tell us that the Cistercians, who settled in \*\*\* _**Oliwa (now part of Gdańsk) in ad 1178 were obliged to grow vines (Badowicz 2017) and then in the 13th and 14th centuries several vineyards**_ \*\*were established in the region, mainly \*\* \*\*due to the activity of the Teutonic Order (Tandecki 1997). \*\* \*\*The relatively warm climate in the Baltic region in that \*\* **period made viticulture possible** END QUOTE. above i think is self-explanatory . Cheers ---
**Author:** ![Lew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lew](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Lew)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 9:02am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/when-greenland-were-actually-green/64817/4 "2022-12-14T09:02:08Z")
Check out the Dalton Mininum 1790-1830 for an even more recent variation Very short event though, geologically speaking, 40 years. ---
**Author:** ![spowiednick](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/spowiednick/32/35668_2.png) [@spowiednick](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/spowiednick)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 12:24pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/when-greenland-were-actually-green/64817/5 "2022-12-14T12:24:46Z")
I must say honestly my jaw dropped here causing local earthquake . I am truly impressed. ---
**Author:** ![yacht\_sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ed655f/32.png) [@yacht\_sailor](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/yacht_sailor)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 3:27pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/when-greenland-were-actually-green/64817/6 "2022-12-14T15:27:43Z")
I thought the very name Greenland was a real estate scam to make it easier to get people from Iceland to go there and it was not actually green at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Gruntledemployee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d78d45/32.png) [@Gruntledemployee](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Gruntledemployee)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 5:01pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/when-greenland-were-actually-green/64817/7 "2022-12-14T17:01:44Z")
I remember talking with an agronomist when I was in the UK in the late 90’s and he spoke at length about the shorter and cooler growing season the UK has had since the 15th century and how yield per unit area in some of the same farms used today decreased as a result up until modern practices intervened. ---
**Author:** ![ombugge](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/ombugge/32/11217_2.png) [@ombugge](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/ombugge)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 10:17pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/when-greenland-were-actually-green/64817/8 "2022-12-14T22:17:48Z")
It WAS a real estate scem, but Greenland was also greener at the time Erik the Red recruited settlers for his newly established colony: > **[The Norse Settlement of Greenland](https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/blog/the-norse-settlement-of-greenland-and-their-discovery-of-north-america)** > > Erik the red is a very colourful and important figure in the history of the Norse Vikings. The source for his story is found in the Icelandic Sagas Huaksbók (14th Century) and Skalhóltsbók (15th Century). Also Flateyjarbók (13th Century), which... PS\> The climate was warmer at the time (987 AD) and they did grow grain in Greenland. ---
**Author:** ![Lew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lew](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Lew)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 10:54pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/when-greenland-were-actually-green/64817/9 "2022-12-14T22:54:15Z")
Imagine the effect on European agriculture today, of a 40 year long cooling event. Not to mention energy demand, navigation, and public health. ---
**Author:** ![ombugge](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/ombugge/32/11217_2.png) [@ombugge](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/ombugge)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 11:03am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/when-greenland-were-actually-green/64817/10 "2022-12-15T11:03:11Z")
Looks like we should worry more about a warming event that is already in progress: > **[Warmer, wetter conditions continue to transform Arctic, impact its...](https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/climate-crisis/2022/12/warmer-wetter-conditions-continue-transform-arctic-impact-its-inhabitants)** > > Higher air temperatures and lower sea ice cover continue to transform the Arctic, says the Arctic Report Card 2022 released on Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Lew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lew](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Lew)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 8:33am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/when-greenland-were-actually-green/64817/11 "2022-12-16T08:33:05Z")
I wonder if Greenland will be green again ? ---
**Author:** ![ombugge](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/ombugge/32/11217_2.png) [@ombugge](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/ombugge)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 12:04pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/when-greenland-were-actually-green/64817/12 "2022-12-16T12:04:03Z")
Maybe it will as the permafrost melts and the growing season gets longer every year, especially in the area where the Norse settlements once thrived: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/gcaptain_maritime_forum/original/3X/8/3/838523725a64ec04e8b47d651ba4ebd2f02d2c73.jpeg) Harvesting hay in the area where Eastern Settlement once was. PS\> This is about on the same Lat. as Bergen.Norway Norse settlements in Greenland: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/gcaptain_maritime_forum/original/3X/a/1/a10e8926fb2deaef562da2cccd2203449a848bd3.jpeg) Vikings sailed hundreds of miles from their settlements to hunt walrus in Disko Bay. Guilbert Gates Source: [Why Did Greenland's Vikings Vanish? | History| Smithsonian Magazine](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-greenland-vikings-vanished-180962119/) Maybe there are something else to worry about than rising sea levels in the next hundred years: > **[Pandoravirus: The melting Arctic is releasing ancient germs – how worried...](https://www.arctictoday.com/pandoravirus-the-melting-arctic-is-releasing-ancient-germs-how-worried-should-we-be/)** > > Scientists have recently revived several large viruses that had been buried in the frozen Siberian ground (permafrost) for tens of thousands of years. The youngest virus to be revived was a sprightly 27,000 years old. And the oldest — a Pandoravirus... ---
**Author:** ![Lew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lew](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Lew)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2022, 8:22am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/when-greenland-were-actually-green/64817/13 "2022-12-17T08:22:11Z")
Maybe “The Thing” or “The Blob” too. ---
**Author:** ![ombugge](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/ombugge/32/11217_2.png) [@ombugge](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/ombugge)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 7:47pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/when-greenland-were-actually-green/64817/14 "2023-01-18T19:47:08Z")
I know this is old news; it is getting downright “balmy” in Greenland: > **[Summer 2012 brought record-breaking melt to Greenland](https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/summer-2012-brought-record-breaking-melt-greenland)** > > The summer of 2012 brought Greenland far more extensive melt than anything observed in the satellite record: in July 2012, surface melt extended over nearly the entire ice sheet. The standardized melt index was nearly double the previous record. It has not got any colder in 2022: > **[Unusually large, late melt spike on Greenland in September 2022](https://www.climate.gov/news-features/event-tracker/unusually-large-late-melt-spike-greenland-september-2022)** > > For several days in early September, southerly winds drew warm air over the ice sheet, triggering a record-large spike in surface melt. ---
**Author:** ![Lew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lew](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Lew)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 7:58am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/when-greenland-were-actually-green/64817/15 "2023-01-19T07:58:29Z")
Time to start selling new farmland ---
**Author:** ![powerabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@powerabout](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/powerabout)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 9:16am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/when-greenland-were-actually-green/64817/16 "2023-01-19T09:16:37Z")
To make the world green it needs co2 Make your green investment today ---
**Author:** ![Hogsnort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@Hogsnort](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Hogsnort)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/when-greenland-were-actually-green/64817/17 "2023-07-14T20:59:52Z")
I will check it out myself. We will be in Paamiut in August and will be packed for 4 climate extremes in one day. ---
**Author:** ![LI\_Domer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/li_domer/32/768_2.png) [@LI\_Domer](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/LI_Domer)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 11:49pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/when-greenland-were-actually-green/64817/18 "2023-07-14T23:49:44Z")
Wait until you guys hear about how Egypt was the breadbasket of the ancient world.