That sinking feeling

From the Wall Street Journal's The Evening Wrap, this story on the geopolitical ramifications of global warming:

Hans Island is a barren piece of Arctic rock less than a mile square, but it's the subject of an ever-hotter dispute between the usually placid nations of Canada and Denmark. Both have laid claim to the island at various times, but recently Canada planted its flag and sent its defense minister on a visit there, sparking a protest from Denmark. A government official in Greenland, a Danish protectorate, called Canada's action an "occupation." There were news reports that the Danes would send a ship to assert their territorial rights. While the dispute might seem silly, there's a lot at stake, including the rights to natural resources beneath the island and the ability to use the region for navigation if and when global warming raises sea levels, sinking Hans and other Arctic islands and opening shipping lanes.