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An Icy Island Warms Up
Cold Greenland is experiencing global warming.
Greenland
has always maintained a unique culture with its own
language, music, and social customs. This is because
explorers from Norway were the first Europeans to ___1___
Native Americans, and they did so on the island that
they later named Greenland. Since ___2___, Greenland has
been home to an interesting
mixture of Europeans and natives.
Greenland is also a unique
location
for natural reasons; it is covered
with ice all year, ___3___ regions on the
coastline. In fact, the Greenland
ice
sheet is the second largest area of ice on land
in the world. Due to global warming, however, the ice
sheet is beginning to ___4___. Since
living
conditions in Greenland are made difficult by
the icy countryside, it might seem that a temperature
increase would be a positive thing. Is
global warming really good for Greenland ?
Actually, it ___5___ whom you ask. For Greenland's
native majority, life revolves
around hunting. The country's Northern European
immigrants, on the other
hand, are farmers and businesspeople.
Global warming is proving to be very positive for the
___6___ group. The smaller ice sheet means that there is
more ___7___ for
crops. Furthermore,
Greenland has valuable natural
resources like oil and gas that are becoming
easier to access. However,
warmer ocean waters and a changing
landscape
are causing the animals the natives hunt to become
scarcer. This is harming not only the
Greenlanders'' diet ___8___ their culture.
In the end, global warming's ___9___ may prove to be
more important for Greenland. With increased wealth from
natural resources, Greenland might even become a
self-sufficient,
independent nation. Yet, Greenlanders will have
to work to ___10___ their native way of life. If they
don't, global warming might make it disappear
along with the ice sheet. |
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An Icy Island Warms Up
Cold Greenland is experiencing global warming.
Greenland
has always maintained a unique culture with its own
language, music, and social customs. This is because
explorers from Norway were the first Europeans to
encounter Native
Americans, and they did so on the island that they later
named Greenland. Since then, Greenland has
been home to an interesting
mixture of Europeans and natives.
Greenland is also a unique
location
for natural reasons; it is covered
with ice all year, except for regions on the
coastline. In fact, the Greenland
ice
sheet is the second largest area of ice on land
in the world. Due to global warming, however, the ice
sheet is beginning to melt. Since
living
conditions in Greenland are made difficult by
the icy countryside, it might seem that a temperature
increase would be a positive thing. Is
global warming really good for Greenland ?
Actually, it depends on whom you ask. For Greenland's
native majority, life revolves
around hunting. The country's Northern European
immigrants, on the other
hand, are farmers and businesspeople.
Global warming is proving to be very positive for the
latter group. The smaller ice sheet means that there is
more room for
crops. Furthermore,
Greenland has valuable natural
resources like oil and gas that are becoming
easier to access. However,
warmer ocean waters and a changing
landscape
are causing the animals the natives hunt to become
scarcer. This is harming not only the
Greenlanders'' diet but also their culture.
In the end, global warming's
benefits may prove to be
more important for Greenland. With increased wealth from
natural resources, Greenland might even become a
self-sufficient,
independent nation. Yet, Greenlanders will have
to work to preserve their native way of life. If they
don't, global warming might make it disappear
along with the ice sheet.
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