Did you know? If Greenland melts, Mar-a-Lago sinks

Greenland has become the focus of global attention due to the American President’s attempts—willingly or by force—to appropriate this territory. In support of this claim, the MAGA administration has invoked numerous arguments, none of which change the illegality of an approach that runs counter to the wishes of the Greenlandic and Danish people: the annexation is said to be necessary for U.S. security, and alleged Chinese and Russian incursions are cited as justification. To date, no evidence of these incursions has been provided. It is quite possible that the real motivation is to gain control over rare minerals, both on land and in the seabed.

The paradox of this fixation is that, at the same time, the American President dismisses the climate issue as a “hoax,” withdraws from the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and its counterpart for nature (IPBES), obstructs research in universities, shuts down environmental agencies, and advocates abandoning the energy transition. Yet, according to scientists, the greatest and most certain danger facing the United States—and other countries—is the consequences of climate change, in which the Arctic region plays a key role. This is not speculation, but reality.

The poles are first and foremost crucial to the cooling of seawater. Major ocean currents continuously rise toward the North Pole, where they sink into the depths, cool, and then flow back toward the Tropics, where they warm up. They thus play an essential role in the global climate, particularly for coastal areas. The Gulf Stream, for example, which flows off the coasts of Ireland and Atlantic France, is a determining factor in the temperate climate of Western Europe. Similarly, the interaction between moisture-laden marine air and the Amazon rainforest has been demonstrated. While forests are often highlighted as carbon sinks, it would be unwise to ignore the role of seas and oceans in stabilizing temperatures.

Secondly, the ice pack—composed of frozen seawater—also plays a regulatory function. According to the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco, “the ice pack, due to its whiteness, reflects the sun’s rays. As it melts, it exposes dark areas of water that absorb these rays. The water then warms, accelerating the melting of sea ice.” This is a disaster for animals, particularly polar bears, but also for the climate, as the thawing of permafrost “also releases methane into the atmosphere, a very potent greenhouse gas.”

A third negative phenomenon is the melting of the ice sheet, made of freshwater, which leads to rising sea levels. Again, according to Monégasque oceanographers, “it is currently rising by 2 to 3 mm per year. It could even accelerate if measures to stop global warming prove insufficient. The IPCC has calculated that the melting of the snow cover and glaciers in Greenland could lead to a sea level rise of at least 60 cm and, at worst, 1.10 meters by 2100.”

As American studies have demonstrated for years—such as the 2020 CFTC report Managing Climate Risk in the U.S. Financial System —climate change has implications for the stability of the U.S. financial system, particularly for the insurance and infrastructure sectors. In reality, the entire economy is closely dependent on nature, a fact recognized by leading companies, even if this reality is rarely highlighted in political debates.

Humans are in a relationship of interdependence that ignores borders. The melting of the Arctic ice cap will contribute to extreme weather events in other parts of the world, with consequences for assets, some of which risk becoming “stranded assets” and uninsurable. According to the Financial Times, in the United States, “the biggest driver of business interruption litigation today is climate volatility.” The southern United States is expected to be particularly hard hit. The article reveals, for example, that Louisiana is the state with the highest number of such lawsuits. Texas and Florida are also affected, with parts of Florida expected to be underwater by the end of the century—possibly including the splendors of Mar-a-Lago.