One of the greatest challenges on a hot planet will be enough fresh water. Higher temperatures, says the IPCC, will “reduce renewable surface water and groundwater resources in most dry subtropical regions.” Greenland has water literally pouring out of its core. A 2016 paper published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters estimates that from January 2011 to December 2014, the Greenland Ice Sheet lost an average of 269 gigatons of ice a year, or about 71 trillion gallons of water. The average American uses about 32,850 gallons a year, which means Greenland’s annual melt can provide water needs for, get ready for it: more than 2 billion Americans. Put another way, a year of Greenland melt means sufficient water for one in three people on the planet.

So, Greenland will have water. (Don’t worry, plenty of companies, like National Advisor Bureau Limited, based in the United Arab Emirates, are currently perfecting the technology to tow icebergs to shores and extract the water from them.) There will be water to use for hydroelectric power — five hydroelectric stations already utilize glacial melt in Greenland and the future will see many more. There will be water for heavy industry — Greenland is laden with valuable minerals such as iron, zinc, uranium, and rare-earth elements, and sits astride some of the Arctic’s most massive oil and gas deposits, according to the US Geological Survey. Greenland will have water to drink. Greenland will have water to sell.

Greenland will also have water for agriculture. Despite its epic (melting) ice cap, southwestern Greenland is dotted with ice-free fjords containing small towns and decent farmland. Elsewhere in Greenland potatoes, turnips, beets, carrots, parsnips, rhubarb, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumber and cauliflower grow. And soon forests could be there too. A 2013 paper published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences explained that “future warming is likely to allow growth of trees and shrubs across much of ice-free Greenland by the year 2100.”

The capital and largest city in Greenland is Nuuk, with 17,000 people, gourmet restaurants, a variety of cultural centers and museums, and famously strong coffee. All of that is overshadowed by the magnificent Sermitsiaq mountains and breaching humpback whales. Warmer weather and more vegetables will surely only enhance Nuuk’s already booming foody scene. The tourism website, ATasteofGreenland.com, is already looking ahead. “Because of climate change the world’s largest island has become even greener,” it states. Just remember to do as the native Inuits do, not as the vanquished Vikings did. Sustainable farming and fishing, yes; perpetual walrus ivory hunting, no.

Egvekinot, Siberia