Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is the largest island in the world but has a small population of 56,000. Many of these «Greenlanders» live close to the coastline because a large part of the country is covered with ice and glaciers. More than a quarter of all the people live in the capital, Nuuk. Since the 1960s, the country has had economic difficulties and social problems. Its traditional industry – and its biggest – is fishing but the country still imports much more than it exports. Now, however, life is about to change dramatically for many Greenlanders – and all because of the weather.

Most scientists agree that the world’s climate is getting warmer and you can already see the difference in Greenland. For example, small icebergs – about the size of city buses– are floating near to the coast. They have broken off from much larger areas of ice further out in the ocean because of the change in temperature. Furthermore, the huge sheet of ice which covers Greenland is shrinking by about 75 cubic kilometres each year. If all of Greenland’s ice melted, sea levels across the world would rise by 7.5 metres.

One industry that is benefiting from the melting ice is the oil industry. Nowadays, the sea around the west coast of Greenland has no ice for six months of the year. This means oil companies can explore this area. They plan to drill for oil in the next few years. Greenlanders have mixed feelings about this modern development. The country’s prime minister, Kuupik Kleist, explains the dilemma: «The Arctic people are the ones most exposed to climate change but we need a strong economy and we have to utilise the opportunities that oil could bring us … we don’t have any other natural resources for the time being that hold as much potential as oil.»

Farming will also change. The growing season is longer with spring arriving earlier and longer summers. On the one hand, if the country produced more of its own food, it wouldn’t need to import so much. On the other hand, some farmers are worried. They think the drier summers might create new problems. For example, last year, it was so dry, farmers produced half the normal amount of food. I spent my last night in the town of Qaqortoq with farming families at their annual celebration before the summer begins. Aſter dinner, everyone started singing this traditional song. The song is about the importance of summer in a place where, in the past, the winters were long and the summers were short. As nature and the weather changes in Greenland, I wondered if they would still sing this song in a hundred years time. They might not.