A Boring Dystopia

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Greenland startup begins shipping glacier ice to cocktail bars in the UAE (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

14 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/10484686

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[–] [email protected] 45 points 10 months ago (4 children)

I put this in the cross post, bit figure it belongs here, too:

While ridiculous, there's interesting context here.

Greenland has little to no economy
The ice is mined from ice that has already broken away from the glacier, thus not reducing any more than nature has already
Cargo ships bringing frozen food used to leave empty, now that same fuel is used to transport ice back instead of going to waste
The founder has always dreamed of a sustainable economy for Greenland
He is conflicted about how his work to do this in a sustainable way is being taken

Lots of gray here.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I assume at the very least the removal of sea ice isn't helping with rising sea temperatures. Sure, it's probably not that significant, but it just seems completely unnecessary. Were these ships coming from and going back to the UAE? Because if they're coming from Europe but then making the extra journey to the UAE then that point is invalid too.

Bottom line - this is gross and unnecessary excess, and definitely not sustainable (in environmental terms, I'm sure financially this person is doing great for themsleves), there is no need to try and make excuses for it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

While I'm not defending them (I don't know enough about this to go one way or another), it seems the semi-empty ships return from Greenland to Denmark, and there are already ships going between Denmark and the UAE.

As far as temps, my understanding is a lot of it has to do with the AMOC:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-29226-8

In today’s warming climate, the persistent North Atlantic cooling anomaly off the southeast coast of Greenland is thought to be caused by the accelerating input of meltwater from the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) and considered an indicator of a weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Modelling studies suggest that increased freshwater input from Greenland has the potential to slow down AMOC in the future, thus substantially weakening heat transport to the North Atlantic and potentially driving positive ice sheet-ocean feedbacks

This is tied to the fact that while the ice may keep things cooler, as it's already broken off, it will put more freshwater into the saltwater more quickly, which is bad for the AMOC.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/amoc.html

If the AMOC does continue to slow down, however, it could have far-reaching climate impacts. For example, if the planet continues to warm, freshwater from melting ice at the poles would shift the rain belt in South Africa, causing droughts for millions of people. It would also cause sea level rise across the U.S. East Coast.

I am no expert here, for context, I just found all this really interesting so did some digging.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 10 months ago

I just wish he would fart on all water so they get their natural gas fix

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

If I wanted an economy, I'd just wait for the climate to make Greenland farmable. Shouldn't be much longer.

[–] Jackinopolis 1 points 10 months ago

Real Life Lore has a good video about the potential resources under Greenland. What's Hidden Under The Ice of Greenland?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Why won't somebody think of the economy??

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

It's a little different in Greenland (which is why I wrote my follow up comment after reading more). Consider that there are ~17 villages with one airport, and no roads between them. There is a lot of poverty, and a very short, small funded tourist season. A huge chunk live in poverty, without basic medical care, and the population is wholly dependent on Denmark. This is one of those places where thinking about the economy is important. No billionaires there to push for taxes on, not like that would happen anyway.