Why We Go To Greenland – August Fact-Finding Trip
Greenland – the largest island on our planet – seems unimportant or irrelevant to most people, but we ignore it at our peril. Most experts agree that the meltdown of the Greenland ice sheet has passed “a tipping point” that cannot be stopped for centuries, regardless of all the proposed efforts to slow climate change. The melting of its ice sheet will raise global sea level, permanently changing coastlines for all 140 nations that have an ocean boundary.
Flying to Wisconsin his week and chatting with the person sitting next to me, he confused ice-covered Greenland with the relatively tiny island of Iceland. This image of the flight tracker was an ideal tool to teach him a little geography. Greenland is the large dominant white mass. Iceland is the much smaller island to the right. Greenland is about one third the size of the continental United States with an ice sheet still covering 80% of the island, but visibly receding. At over a mile thick, the full melt-down of the Greenland ice sheet would raise global sea level about 25 feet, roughly seven meters. Even with the accelerating rate of melting that will likely take centuries. However, even just 10% of that amount – two and a half feet of higher base sea level – will have devastating economic, national security, and humanitarian impacts, displacing hundreds of millions of people in coastal communities worldwide.
Greenland is “ground zero” for rising sea level, along with the much larger Antarctica. But the melting of Greenland is far more advanced. Getting to Greenland and having a good vantage point to see the melting is also better than going to the Antarctic. That’s why I have been going to Greenland for the last fifteen years to see the progression of the melting, which is staggering. In August this year, I will again be leading two expeditions there. The reason to go to Greenland is similar to the reason one would visit any amazing huge geographic wonder, such as the Grand Canyon. Photographs and videos are great, but in no way replace the enormity of the real thing. Having led nearly a hundred people to Greenland over the years, I can say without exception, that they are changed by the experience. Seeing the Greenland ice sheet and glaciers, spawning gigantic icebergs such as shown below, provides a powerful perspective for the scale of the potential melting.
It is vital that more people witness this extraordinary place that will literally change the world. Those who visit Greenland experience deep learning, becoming ambassadors telling their networks that climate change is real and must be addressed urgently both in terms of efforts to slow the warming and to begin adaptation to the rising sea. The huge ice sheet and the many giant glaciers have a unique beauty. The Greenlandic communities provide stories and context for the changes over several centuries.
If you, or someone you know, might be interested in this program, send an email to greenland2022@johnenglander.net to download the full brochure. Don’t delay as this year’s trips are almost sold out. These exclusive “VIP” expeditions include field trips by helicopter and boat, and utilize high quality accommodations. Also, to address the valid concern about greenhouse gas emissions from our flights, we purchase “carbon offsets” from a tree-planting program, Greenland Trees.
To see a short video created by the US Coast Guard showing similar activities to our fact-finding expeditions, click here.
