Greenland =D

Greenland !



How is Greenland being affected by climate change:
Satellite images show that, after decades of stability, a major glacier draining the Greenland ice sheet has dramatically increased its speed and retreated nearly five miles in recent years.
These changes could contribute to rapid melting of the Greenland ice sheet and cause the global sea level to rise faster than expected, according to researchers studying the glacier.
The Greenland ice sheet contains enough water to raise global sea levels by 15 to 20 feet. Although the entire ice sheet is unlikely to melt in this century, even a small change in the rate of melting could overwhelm low-lying coastal plains and add enough fresh water to the North Atlantic to change ocean circulation patterns .

Satellite images dating back as far as the 1970s show that the front of the glacier has remained in the same place for decades. But in 2001 it began retreating rapidly, moving back 4 and 1/2 miles between 2001 and 2005. All over Greenland and the Arctic, rising temperatures are not simply melting ice; they are changing the very geography of coastlines aswell.
Not only are the edges of Greenland melting fast, but the surface melt is seeping through the ice to lubricate the junction between the ice and the rock underneath.




Glacier's in Greenland:
The Helheim glacier's speedup has already propagated 12.5 miles up the glacier. The center of the Greenland ice sheet is only 150 miles inland, and the researchers worry that the effects of the glacier's retreat will continue to move inland, ultimately decreasing the thickness of the whole ice sheet.


If other glaciers in Greenland are responding like Helheim, it could easily cut in half the time it will take to destroy the Greenland ice sheet.This is a process we thought was only happening in Antarctica, and now we're seeing that it happens really fast in Greenland.



Temperature:
Greenland has an Arctic climate, but owing to the size of the country there are great variations in the weather. Winters can be severe and the summers mild, particularly in areas which are sheltered from the prevailing winds. The north of the country, and much of the interior, enjoys true Arctic weather, with the temperature only rising above freezing for brief periods in the summer.

Temperature in Greenland right now is 13.9°C.
Dew point is 8.8°C

Relative humidity is 71% .
wind gusts 20km/h.

pressure 1020.6hPa.

fire danger 2.2 Low.
290.7mm rainfall in 34.3 day's.





Daliy rainfall graph






Greenland first settlements:
Greenland was unknown to Europeans until the 10th century, when Icelandic Vikings settled on the south-western coast. Before this discovery, it had been inhabited for a long time by Arctic peoples, although it was apparently unpopulated at the time when the Vikings arrived, the direct ancestors of the modern Inuit Greenlanders did not arrive until around 1200 AD from the northwest. The Norse settlements along the south-west coast eventually disappeared after about 500 years.

long term consequences:
According to two international-research studies on the last ice age ,the great ice sheets of the Arctic Ocean are beginning to melt, early sporadic episodes of melting of the old ice sheet which covered the British Isles had already begun to affect the circulation of the ocean currents, which played a key role in the climatic stability of the planet.
Based on this observation, scientists consider that the acceleration of the melting of the Greenland ice cap could play an important role in the future stability of ocean circulation and, hence, in the development of climate change.



Short term consequences:
Increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations, and the resulting temperature increases, have led to speculation that the Greenland ice sheet could disappear, or at least be greatly reduced, in the relatively near future.
As you can see in this diagram below the arctic ice cap has decreased by a dramatic amount.


The Greenland Ice Cap holds 9% of the fresh water resources in the world. If all of the ice cap were to melt, global sea level would rise substantially. Greenland's ice has an enormous impact on the rest of the world. It is in the ice cap and in the weather conditions in Greenland that the climate changes in the world can be measured. The major geographic impacts of climate change in Greenland are melting of the ice cap, thinner sea ice and melting permafrost.


Houses and buildings :




All towns and settlements in Greenland are situated along the ice-free coast, with the population being concentrated along the Western coast. The northeastern part of Greenland, which includes sections of North Greenland and East Greenland, is not part of any municipality, but is the site of the world's largest national park, Northeast Greenland. 53,000 Greenlanders living in Greenland and its the world's largest island.

Living in an environment with very little buffering capacity, ecological changes immediately had repercussions.Buildings constructed on permafrost are becoming increasingly unstable, requiring expensive repair. New buildings will require different, and likely more expensive construction techniques. Roads and airport runways build on permafrost are now unstable and hard to maintain. The ice cap, permafrost and sea ice are all critical to the geography and economy of Greenland as a whole, and essential to the economy, social structure and culture of Inuit people.

Predict future climate change for greenland:



The data in blue is what we already know and the red data is the prediction of future temperatures for the next 100 years. If the greenlanders dont plan to adapt then all the ice will melt and Greenland will slowly go under water.
The evidence is right there in front of us that the world is changing at a dramatic pace.

Support and cooperation:
Political scientists from the university of Copenhagen in Greenland are experiencing the effects of climate change and have described it as 'an indigneous women whose culture and livelihood is directly affected'. For the past year they have been working on projects for climate change.


Changes that greenlanders are makeing to help others understand & help:

-Press releases
- Newsletters
- Annual reports
- Media analyses
- Production of brochures about Greenland
- Participation at fairs and workshops
- Event counseling
- Counseling servies towards the press
- Photo service.

The scientists in Greenland are already making changes , they have put out news letter's , annal reports , photos etc... , so that they can hopefully help the rest of Greenlanders to understand whats happening to their island and how climate change is and will affect them all


Melting of the ice cap:
In 1995 a glacier in Kangerlussuaq, close to the Atlantic airport in midwest Greenland, moved 6 km (or 3,73 miles) to the sea during one year. Today, only 10 years later, it is moving at 14 km (or 8,70 miles) during one year, more than twice as fast.This rate of movement is so fast that new snowfall is not sufficient to maintain the ice cap. Land, which previously has been covered with the ice cap for centuries, is now visible. Another climate change impact is that the warmer sea, which is no longer covered by the insulating sea ice, warms up the weather and makes the weather more wet and instable and impacts the climate as well.

What is being done:

What is being done in Greenland is not restoration. Because, how can they restore thier weather, climate and ice? The Greenlandic Home Rule wants to limit the emission of greenhouse gases and has a policy to meet energy needs from natural sources. Hydro-electric power has the potential to supply all the demand for energy in Greenland many times over. However, potential projects are situated in remote areas, making construction difficult and costly. The population in Greenland is sparse, located in small communities spread out over a huge area, so it would be extremely costly to build transmission lines. Nevertheless, Nuuk, the capital of Greenland has a power station, and Tasiilaq in East Greenland has also a power station. One power station is now being build in South Greenland and the second largest town, Sisimiut has also decided to have their own power station.




Interesting Facts:
*The coastline of Greenland is 39,330 km (24,430) long, about the same length as the Earth's circumference at the Equator.

*Greenland, the world's largest island, is mostly covered by an icecap of about 2.6 million cubic kilometres which accounts for a 10th of all the fresh water in the world.


*The United States took over the custody of Greenland during World War II.

* 85% of the island is ice and its the world's second largest ice cap!


*Greenland is the source of many of the weather changes in the northern hemisphere.


*Greenland is a mountainous country and is the largest island in the world with a total of 2.175,600 sq. km.

*Geographically, Greenland is part of the North American continent; geopolitically, the country is part of Europe, and nationally Greenland is part of Denmark.



Bibliography


www.worldtravelguide.net/country/103

http://www.sfgate.com/


http://www.sfgate.com/


http://www.greenland-guide.gl/

http://www.torrak.org/