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This isn’t the first time Greenland’s glaciers have receded. The name is a bit of a clue after all about its condition when the Vikings named it. Edit: Covered

by User23 6y ago

This isn’t the first time Greenland’s glaciers have receded. The name is a bit of a clue after all about its condition when the Vikings named it. Edit: Covered in a reply, but for those who don't read it please understand I was referring to the Medieval Warm Period[1]. [1[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Warm_Period https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Warm_Period

nanomonkey 6y ago
It's my understanding that the name Greenland was used to attract new settlers, not because it actually was a good description. [From Wikipedia] The Saga of Erik the Red states: "In the summer, Erik left to settle in the country he had found, which he called Greenland, as he said people would be attracted there if it had a favorable name."
throw0101a 6y ago
Greenland's name was partly marketing: > After finding a habitable area and settling there, he named it Grœnland (translated as "Greenland"), supposedly in the hope that the pleasant name would attract settlers.[20][21][22] The Saga of Erik the Red states: "In the summer, Erik left to settle in the country he had found, which he called Greenland, as he said people would be attracted there if it had a favorable name."[23] * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#Etymology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#Etymology
- User23 6y ago
  I can't dispute whether or not Erik engaged in marketing, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did. However his voyage was well into the start of the Medieval Warm Period[1], so I'll stand by my claim that there was less glaciation when he named the place. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Warm_Period https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Warm_Period
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
CapitalistCartr 6y ago
Greenland's name was given by Eric the Red, who wanted fellow Norse to settle there. He being there because he got kicked out of Iceland. Erik (according to popular legend) called the island Greenland and painted the island as being a wonderful place to settle. It was slightly warmer than even today, but that was a localized warming, not Global. Greenland has had several cold and warm cycles over the past hundred millennia.
moultano 6y ago
The heat anomaly at the time was concentrated over Greenland. https://static.skepticalscience.com/images/Temperature_Pattern_MWP.gif https://static.skepticalscience.com/images/Temperature_Patte... The current temperature anomaly covers the entire earth. https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/service/global/map-blended-mntp/201906.png https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/service/global/map-blended-mn...
- User23 6y ago
  I'm glad we agree there was a heat anomaly in Greenland when it was named Greenland, which indicates the glaciers had receded. Digging into that historical data further, what sourcing is there? The wiki page I already links indicates records for most of the world at the time were, well, awful. And that what we do know suggests it was similarly warm and dry in Asia, Africa, and South America. Skepticalscience.com is a web cartoonist's blog, not a serious scientific source. That said even cartoonists can read and learn, so I'd be very interested in seeing his sources.
  - moultano 6y ago
    It really seems like you're just trolling and aren't actually interested at all in what's true. Skepticalscience.com is a site created and maintained by a team of climate scientists. https://skepticalscience.com/about.shtml https://skepticalscience.com/about.shtml The article that diagram is from is here: https://www.skepticalscience.com/medieval-warm-period-intermediate.htm https://www.skepticalscience.com/medieval-warm-period-interm... While greenland was warmer during the medieval warm period than immediately afterwards, its ice sheet is 400,000 years old. Saying they had "receded" is a stretch, and it is warmer today than it was then. The effect of the medieval warm period was localized to the north atlantic, while the rest of the world was colder, and the north atlantic is already substantially hotter today than it was then.
    - User23 6y ago
      No, skepticalscience.com is a website created by a web dev cartoonist with absolutely no climatology background[1]. I'm also well aware that Greenland's ice sheet is a remnant of the Quaternary Glaciation[2]. What word would you prefer other than "receded" to say that the extent of the ice sheet was less in the 11th century than it was in the 9th or the 20th? Also, in the opposite spirit of your opening sentence, let me advise you that "It really seems like you're just trolling" is a very weaselly way to insinuate bad faith, and you should try to do better. If you want to call me a liar or a fool just do it. I don't think you could support that accusation based on my use of sources like wikipedia because I am acting in good faith and a spirit of intellectual curiosity, but hey you do you. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeptical_Science https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeptical_Science [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_glaciation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_glaciation

by User23 6y ago

nanomonkey 6y ago

It's my understanding that the name Greenland was used to attract new settlers, not because it actually was a good description. [From Wikipedia] The Saga of Erik the Red states: "In the summer, Erik left to settle in the country he had found, which he called Greenland, as he said people would be attracted there if it had a favorable name."

throw0101a 6y ago

Greenland's name was partly marketing: > After finding a habitable area and settling there, he named it Grœnland (translated as "Greenland"), supposedly in the hope that the pleasant name would attract settlers.[20][21][22] The Saga of Erik the Red states: "In the summer, Erik left to settle in the country he had found, which he called Greenland, as he said people would be attracted there if it had a favorable name."[23] * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#Etymology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#Etymology

User23 6y ago
I can't dispute whether or not Erik engaged in marketing, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did. However his voyage was well into the start of the Medieval Warm Period[1], so I'll stand by my claim that there was less glaciation when he named the place. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Warm_Period https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Warm_Period

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

CapitalistCartr 6y ago

Greenland's name was given by Eric the Red, who wanted fellow Norse to settle there. He being there because he got kicked out of Iceland. Erik (according to popular legend) called the island Greenland and painted the island as being a wonderful place to settle. It was slightly warmer than even today, but that was a localized warming, not Global. Greenland has had several cold and warm cycles over the past hundred millennia.

moultano 6y ago

The heat anomaly at the time was concentrated over Greenland. https://static.skepticalscience.com/images/Temperature_Pattern_MWP.gif https://static.skepticalscience.com/images/Temperature_Patte... The current temperature anomaly covers the entire earth. https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/service/global/map-blended-mntp/201906.png https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/service/global/map-blended-mn...

User23 6y ago
I'm glad we agree there was a heat anomaly in Greenland when it was named Greenland, which indicates the glaciers had receded. Digging into that historical data further, what sourcing is there? The wiki page I already links indicates records for most of the world at the time were, well, awful. And that what we do know suggests it was similarly warm and dry in Asia, Africa, and South America. Skepticalscience.com is a web cartoonist's blog, not a serious scientific source. That said even cartoonists can read and learn, so I'd be very interested in seeing his sources.
- moultano 6y ago
  It really seems like you're just trolling and aren't actually interested at all in what's true. Skepticalscience.com is a site created and maintained by a team of climate scientists. https://skepticalscience.com/about.shtml https://skepticalscience.com/about.shtml The article that diagram is from is here: https://www.skepticalscience.com/medieval-warm-period-intermediate.htm https://www.skepticalscience.com/medieval-warm-period-interm... While greenland was warmer during the medieval warm period than immediately afterwards, its ice sheet is 400,000 years old. Saying they had "receded" is a stretch, and it is warmer today than it was then. The effect of the medieval warm period was localized to the north atlantic, while the rest of the world was colder, and the north atlantic is already substantially hotter today than it was then.
  - User23 6y ago
    No, skepticalscience.com is a website created by a web dev cartoonist with absolutely no climatology background[1]. I'm also well aware that Greenland's ice sheet is a remnant of the Quaternary Glaciation[2]. What word would you prefer other than "receded" to say that the extent of the ice sheet was less in the 11th century than it was in the 9th or the 20th? Also, in the opposite spirit of your opening sentence, let me advise you that "It really seems like you're just trolling" is a very weaselly way to insinuate bad faith, and you should try to do better. If you want to call me a liar or a fool just do it. I don't think you could support that accusation based on my use of sources like wikipedia because I am acting in good faith and a spirit of intellectual curiosity, but hey you do you. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeptical_Science https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeptical_Science [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_glaciation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_glaciation