The abandonment of Greenland's Norse settlements by the mid-15th century is a story more complex than just freezing temperatures. While the Little Ice Age (c. 1300-1850) brought a colder climate, a more direct threat was rising sea levels. Paradoxically, this was caused by the *growth* of the Greenland ice sheet, not its melting. As the ice sheet expanded, its immense weight pressed down on the landmass. This process, known as glacial isostatic adjustment, caused the land at the edges of the con