Greenland loses massive amount of ice with enough melting to cover US state of Florida in 2 inches of water, scientists say.
As the ice covers melt in the Arctic region, world powers compete to exploit the world's largest remaining oil, gas and mineral deposits.
The election, in which campaigns were dominated by a debate on mining rare earth metals, was closely watched by international mining companies wanting to exploit Greenland's vast untapped minerals resources.
Greenland's two main parties are divided on whether to authorise a giant rare earth and uranium mining project, on fishing – the main driver of Greenland's economy and on the Paris Climate Change agreement.
Debate over a controversial project aimed at extracting uranium and rare earth minerals has sparked political uncertainty in Greenland’s parliament.
Scientists who have studied data on 234 glaciers across the Arctic territory for 34 years find that annual snowfall is no longer enough to replenish glaciers.
The huge melt was due not only to warm temperatures, but also atmospheric circulation patterns that have become more frequent due to climate change, suggesting scientists may be underestimating the threat to the ice, the authors found.
The iceberg, dubbed D28, broke away from the Amery ice shelf between September 24 and 25, according to observations from European and American satellites. It measures 1,582 square kilometres and contains 315 billion tonnes of ice.
US-Russia missile sabre-rattling in the Arctic sends threatening political messages but the bigger threat is its lasting environmental damage.
The US president tweeted he will postpone an August meeting with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen as she had no interest in "discussing the purchase of Greenland" with him.
The world’s largest island has long been on the mind of successive American leaders who have been interested in its strategic and economic value.
"Greenland is not for sale. Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland. I strongly hope that this is not meant seriously," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told the newspaper Sermitsiaq during a visit to Greenland.
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