Query: Prof Adam Scaife, a climate modelling expert at the UK’s Met Office, said the evidence for a link to shrinking Arctic ice was now good: ‘The consensus points towards that being a real effect.’”

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Greenland <=SEP=> Greenland ( -LSB- ˈɡriːnlənd -RSB- Kalaallit Nunaat -LSB- kaˈlaːɬit ˈnunaːt -RSB- Grønland -LSB- ˈɡ̊ʁɶnˌlanˀ -RSB- ) is an autonomous constituent country within the Kingdom of Denmark between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans , east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago . Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America , Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe ( specifically Norway and Denmark , the colonial powers , as well as the nearby island of Iceland ) for more than a millennium . The majority of its residents are Inuit , whose ancestors began migrating from the Canadian mainland in the 13th century , gradually settling across the island .   Greenland is the world 's largest island ( Australia , although larger , is generally considered to be a continental landmass rather than an island ) . Three-quarters of Greenland is covered by the only permanent ice sheet outside Antarctica . With a population of about 56,480 ( 2013 ) , it is the least densely populated country in the world . The Arctic Umiaq Line ferry acts as a lifeline for western Greenland , connecting the various cities and settlements .   Greenland has been inhabited off and on for at least the last 4,500 years by Arctic peoples whose forebears migrated there from what is now Canada . Norsemen settled the uninhabited southern part of Greenland beginning in the 10th century , and Inuit peoples arrived in the 13th century . The Norse colonies disappeared in the late 15th century . Soon after their demise , beginning in 1499 , the Portuguese briefly explored and claimed the island , naming it Terra do Lavrador ( later applied to Labrador in Canada ) . In the early 18th century , Scandinavian explorers reached Greenland again . To strengthen trading and power , Denmark-Norway affirmed sovereignty over the island .   Denmark -- Norway claimed Greenland for centuries . Greenland was settled by Vikings ( of Norwegian origin ) more than a thousand years ago , who had previously settled Iceland to escape persecution from the King of Norway and his central government . Vikings set sail from Greenland and Iceland , encountering North America nearly 500 years before Columbus reached the Caribbean islands . They attempted to colonize land . Though under continuous influence of Norway and Norwegians , Greenland was not formally under the Norwegian crown until 1262 . The Kingdom of Norway was extensive and a military power until the mid-14th century . Norway was dramatically hit with a larger death toll than Denmark by the Black Death , forcing Norway to accept a union in which the central government , university and other fundamental institutions were located in Copenhagen . Thus , the two kingdoms ' resources were directed at creating Copenhagen . Norway became the weaker part and lost sovereignty over Greenland in 1814 when the union was dissolved . Greenland became a Danish colony in 1814 , and was made a part of the Danish Realm in 1953 under the Constitution of Denmark .   In 1973 , Greenland joined the European Economic Community with Denmark . However , in a referendum in 1982 , a majority of the population voted for Greenland to withdraw from the EEC which was effected in 1985 . Greenland contains the world 's largest and most northernly national park , Northeast Greenland National Park ( Kalaallit Nunaanni nuna eqqissisimatitaq ) . Established in 1974 and expanded to its present size in 1988 , it protects 972001 km2 of the interior and northeastern coast of Greenland and is bigger than all but twenty-nine countries in the world . Greenland is divided into four municipalities - Sermersooq , Kujalleq , Qaasuitsup , and Qeqqata .   In 1979 , Denmark had granted home rule to Greenland , and in 2008 , Greenlanders voted in favour of the Self-Government Act , which transferred more power from the Danish royal government to the local Greenlandic government . Under the new structure , in effect since 21 June 2009 , Greenland can gradually assume responsibility for policing , judicial system , company law , accounting , and auditing ; mineral resource activities ; aviation ; law of legal capacity , family law and succession law ; aliens and border controls ; the working environment ; and financial regulation and supervision , while the Danish government retains control of foreign affairs and defence . It also retains control of monetary policy , providing an initial annual subsidy of DKK 3.4 billion , which is planned to diminish gradually over time . Greenland expects to grow its economy based on increased income from the extraction of natural resources . The capital , Nuuk , held the 2016 Arctic Winter Games . At 70 % , Greenland has one of the highest shares of renewable energy in the world , mostly coming from hydropower .

Scientific consensus on climate change <=SEP=> There is currently a strong scientific consensus that the Earth is warming and that this warming is mainly caused by human activities. This consensus is supported by various studies of scientists' opinions and by position statements of scientific organizations, many of which explicitly agree with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) synthesis reports.  Nearly all actively publishing climate scientists (97–98%) support the consensus on anthropogenic climate change, and the remaining 2% of contrarian studies either cannot be replicated or contain errors.

Climatic Research Unit email controversy <=SEP=> The Climatic Research Unit email controversy ( also known as `` Climategate '' ) began in November 2009 with the hacking of a server at the Climatic Research Unit ( CRU ) at the University of East Anglia ( UEA ) by an external attacker , copying thousands of emails and computer files , the Climatic Research Unit documents , to various internet locations several weeks before the Copenhagen Summit on climate change .   The story was first broken by climate change denialists with columnist James Delingpole popularising the term `` Climategate '' to describe the controversy . Several people considered climate change `` skeptics '' argued that the emails showed global warming was a scientific conspiracy , that scientists manipulated climate data and attempted to suppress critics . The CRU rejected this , saying the emails had been taken out of context and merely reflected an honest exchange of ideas .   The mainstream media picked up the story as negotiations over climate change mitigation began in Copenhagen on 7 December 2009 . Because of the timing , scientists , policy makers and public relations experts said that the release of emails was a smear campaign intended to undermine the climate conference . In response to the controversy , the American Association for the Advancement of Science ( AAAS ) , the American Meteorological Society ( AMS ) and the Union of Concerned Scientists ( UCS ) released statements supporting the scientific consensus that the Earth 's mean surface temperature had been rising for decades , with the AAAS concluding , `` based on multiple lines of scientific evidence that global climate change caused by human activities is now underway ... it is a growing threat to society . ''   Eight committees investigated the allegations and published reports , finding no evidence of fraud or scientific misconduct . However , the reports called on the scientists to avoid any such allegations in the future by taking steps to regain public confidence in their work , for example by opening up access to their supporting data , processing methods and software , and by promptly honouring freedom of information requests . The scientific consensus that global warming is occurring as a result of human activity remained unchanged throughout the investigations .

Adam Scaife <=SEP=> Adam Arthur Scaife B.A. M.A. MSc PhD FRMetS ( born 18 March 1970 ) is a British physicist , and head of long range prediction at the Met Office . He is an honorary visiting Professor at Exeter University . Scaife carries out research into long range weather forecasting and computer modelling of the climate . Scaife has published over 100 peer reviewed studies on atmospheric dynamics , computer modelling and climate predictability and change and recently published popular science and academic books on meteorology .