Greenland isn’t green at all — so how did the world’s iciest island get its name?

Wait 5 sec.

Greenland's name, a clever marketing ploy by Erik the Red around 1000 AD to attract settlers, is a stark contrast to its icy reality. While a Medieval Warm Period offered some localized greening, the island is now experiencing a resurgence of vegetation due to melting ice, a phenomenon mirroring its historical naming.