Greenland has been in the news a lot lately due to the political posturing of President Trump and other political powers. While unrelated, a new study has also found that Greenland is bigger than before physically as well.

The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, used satellite images to see that the glaciers along Greenland’s coastline have been melting, which reveals more land that was previously covered.

All in all, this has extended the coastline by about 1620 kilometers (1000 miles). While not exactly the type of beachfront property that most people want, it is an important reminder of just how impactful climate change already is.

This new coastline was from melting that took place in just two decades, from 2000 to 2020.

The study authors write:

“Greenland contains the largest average glacier retreat area in the Arctic. The glacier with the longest new coastline, Zachariae Isstrom in northeast Greenland, is responsible for >81 km [50 miles] of new coastline, which is more than twice as much as any other glacier in the hemisphere. The majority of glaciers exposing the longest coastline are in Greenland with almost all of them attached to the ice sheet.”

This new land isn’t just along the coast of mainland Greenland though. The melting glaciers also revealed many new islands that were previously nothing but ice. some of these islands have never been on maps before. Others were on maps prior to the 1960s, but then glaciers advanced and covered them. Today they are once again revealed to the world.

Most of the newly uncovered coastline and islands will remain uninhabited since they are not in places where people would want to live. Many of them, however, will likely be rich in oil, natural gas, and other minerals, which may make them very attractive to mining companies and even nations.

It is not yet known if any of the newly exposed islands will be seen as ‘up for grabs’ by outside nations in the coming years or not, but given the current political climate, that possibility cannot be ruled out.

While the future of Greenland remains uncertain, it is very likely that continued climate change will mean that its coastline will just keep growing.

That is a lot of new land.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about 50 amazing finds on Google Earth.