Why is Greenland named Greenland? Was it once green? Was that global warming?

Question

Greenland is now white. If Greenland was once an agricultural greenzone, what happened?

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl (type in greenland)

Answer 1

Tourist trap.  Leif Ericsson was trying to lure people away from Iceland.

Answer 2

It was probably once green, but once oceanic travel got going, it was a reverse marketing campaign - trying to get people away from tiny but verdant Iceland and towards massive but icy Greenland.

Answer 3

Greenland was never green.  It has always been cold and covered with ice and snow.  the Vikings named it that to trick people into moving there.

Answer 4

There was a polar shift when Nibiru passed to close by the earth.

There were floods and tidal waves ,

most of humanity was wiped out

(browse for Nibiru)

the Pole used to be in Poland ,why else would it be called that.because it once was the center of the north pole.

And Antarctica was tropical then ,according to fossilized remains of plants.

So many changes

and it is going to happen all over again

it always does every 300.000 years

Got your Parka ready,

Or your bikini if you are going to Antarctica

Gumboots for the beach

Answer 5

I've included a link where you can read about this instead of going into great detail here.  There was a warming trend prior to 1150 throughout Europe when Greenland was indeed green.  This was followed by a mini Ice Age.

http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/mandias/lia/...

Answer 6

Global warming is one-half of the climatic cycle of warming and cooling.

The earth's mean temperature cycles around the freezing point of water.

This is a completely natural phenomenon which has been going on since there has been water on this planet. It is driven by the sun.

Our planet is currently emerging from a 'mini ice age', so is

becoming warmer and may return to the point at which Greenland is again usable as farmland (as it has been in recorded history).

As the polar ice caps decrease, the amount of fresh water mixing with oceanic water will slow and perhaps stop the thermohaline cycle (the oceanic heat 'conveyor' which, among other things, keeps the U.S. east coast warm).

When this cycle slows/stops, the planet will cool again and begin to enter another ice age.

It's been happening for millions of years.

The worrisome and brutal predictions of drastic climate effects are based on computer models, NOT CLIMATE HISTORY.

As you probably know, computer models are not the most reliable of sources, especially when used to 'predict' chaotic systems such as weather.

Global warming/cooling, AKA 'climate change':

Humans did not cause it.

Humans cannot stop it.

Answer 7

you guys are idiots.  When you start going back millions of years continents were in different locations.   Ocean currents and even oceans didn't exist or were of different sizes.   When Antarctica had rain forest it was in much higher latitudes hence the more tropical climate.  Yes the climate has changed but so has the size of landmasses, oceans and the albedo of the planet which also has a great influence on climate.  Besides that fact that in the past change occurred over tens of thousands of years whereas now it has occurred over one century.  Greenland is not green, Poland isn't shaped like a pole.

Answer 8

Yes ---- and ---------- Yes

Answer 9

Lots of misinformation going on with many of these answers. Yes Greenland was once green during the 12th & 13th centuries the Climate was warm enough to support farmsteads. The diet during Greenlands warm period was 80%land 20%sea when the climate became cold these ratios flipped to 20/80 Scientists are able to quantify these valuations because the Carbon isotopes ratios found in the bones of the Norse are derived from land & sea food sources and identifiable. Supplemental analysis of rubbish pits also offer indirect proof consistant with the indicated dietary land/sea ratios.

The facts about Global Warming itself are that the phenomenon is poorly understood, and mountains of evidence now question man's impact. Significant long-term changes in the Earth's climate have occurred in the past and, no doubt, will occur again. This has led some people to ask when the next significant change in climate will occur, and whether human activity has inadvertently hastened the onset of climate change. Studies of observational data and an understanding of theoretical issues of climate do offer some insight, but Human induced Global Warming is not established to the extent many think. A consensus is not a substitute for a proven event. The probabilistic modeling used to predict climate changes are scenarios and only as good as the parameters & defined variables in the model. The facts about GW and mankind's effect on Earth's climate are that the phenomenon is poorly understood and contaminated by skewed data.

Case in point:



Anthony Watts is a broadcast meteorologist who is leading an all-volunteer effort to photograph and document all of the weather stations in the GHCN. He started in the US and now 1/3 of US stations have been photographed. 85% of them do not meet the minimum standards of NOAA and have a strong warm bias. The NOAA specifies that temperature sensors should be a minimum of 100 feet away from buildings, concrete, and asphalt.

This indicates that up to half of the observed warming is not real. Watts presented his findings to scientists at UCAR. You can see examples here:

http://www.norcalblogs.com/watts/weather...

Answer 10

There were once farms, livestock, and communities on Greenland. What happened? The Medieval Warm period ended.

By the way, why is it that the so-called "hockey stick" that so many global warming alarmists use leaves this period off?

Answer 11

The whole story of Greenland goes back to history when Leif Erickson and the Vikings were exploring the seas. They discovered Iceland and Greenland. Iceland was a really pretty and full of recourse's. So they decided to name Iceland, Iceland because Leif Erickson and the Vikings wanted to drive people away from Iceland and towards Greenland. When in reality Greenland is more ice like than Iceland is.

Quite Cleaver really. Fooled many people.

Answer 12

hi

Answer 13

From the link below

"He called this new land "Greenland" because he "believed more people would go thither if the country had a beautiful name," according to one of the Icelandic chronicles (Hermann, 1954) although Greenland, as a whole, could not be considered "green." Additionally, the land was not very good for farming."

I've seen this many other places, and it was what I was taught as a child in school.  Iceland had been shunned by colonists because of the name his father had given it.  They named America "Vineland" for the same reason, although they landed in Maine.

Answer 14

I think the Vikings did that,so everyone would stay away from Iceland...

Answer 15

J.S. said:

"It was a marketing ploy to get people to colonize a marginal and harsh land. Even the Innuit eventually moved out. "

This is ridiculous. Yes, it was partially a so called marketing ploy, but that is not the whole history. Greenland was much greener (this doesn't mean ALL of it was green) than now with several viking colonies who had livestock and grew crops. The Vikings moved out of Greenland (and died out) AFTER it started becoming colder--the Little Ice Age. The Inuit people moved further south AFTER it became colder. I believe J.S. and others are attempting to spread misinformation.

Smaccas:

I think you misunderstood. Many of us are speaking about Greenland in roughly 1000 AD. If you wish to assert that land mass location and size has changed that dramatically over the past 1000 years, be my guest. That would be a losing battle.

And the rate of change over the last 100 years is not unprecedented over the past 2000 years

Answer 16

Greenland had two main colonies.  The ruins of hundreds of farms have been found where nothing will grow any longer.

Answer 17

erik the red had to leave norway 'because of some killings' (lol! not a very nice man). he settled in iceland, but after a few years he was outlawed after another bit of bother, so he went viking, sailing west and finding an uninhabited glacial land.

He named the land which he had explored Greenland (ON: Grœnland) because he said people would be attracted to go there if the land had a good name.

he returned to iceland, and got 30 shiploads of people to sell up and follow him. once they were there they were pretty well stuck.

its all in the Grœnlendinga saga

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gr%C5%93nle...

Answer 18

I think the Vikings called it Greenland to confuse people into thinking that Iceland was Greenland and vice versa.  Iceland is supposed to be the greener of the two places, while Greenland is more ice etc.

Answer 19

lol, they named it Greenland to get people to come there....They named Iceland, Iceland to keep people away

Answer 20

It was a marketing ploy to get people to colonize a marginal and harsh land.  Even the Innuit eventually moved out.  

Read some history.  The "name of Greenland" argument is one of the dumbest offered by the denial propaganda artists, but they lack anything credible and substantive, I guess they have to make noise about something.