The name Greenland is mentioned quite a lot these days: the place where US President Donald Trump wants to buy, the place where climate change is warning of an alarming rate…
Tourist boat in Greenland – Photo: Albert
Greenland is the world’s largest island, with 82% of its surface covered in ice, and is also a major player in the world’s ocean system. Scientists estimate that global sea levels could rise by up to 7m if all of Greenland’s ice melted.
“Greenland affects the whole planet. A billion tons of ice lost here will cause sea levels to rise in Australia, Southeast Asia, the US, and Europe,” NASA oceanographer Josh Willis recently warned.
According to research by the Danish Meteorological Institute, Greenland lost a total of 197 billion tons of ice in July alone, the largest amount ever recorded. On August 1 alone, an estimated 12.5 billion tons of Greenland ice melted, the highest number in nearly 100 years.
With this development, in the near future, Greenland with its towering icebergs and vast “ice carpets” will no longer exist. This means that the beautiful landscapes that are unique to this island will also disappear.
Two authors, Albert and Violeta Draseikaitė, recently shared a photo series of Greenland’s wild beauty with a warning that if people do not know how to preserve it, if companies continue to bring tourists to Greenland… the possibility of this beautiful island being “death” will not be far away…
A humpback whale dives into the water, behind it is a giant ice wall – Photo: Albert
Ice in Greenland – Photo: Albert
A seagull perches on top of an iceberg – Photo: Albert
An ice cube with an interesting texture, with a hole in it that shows the other side has an equally interesting texture – Photo: Albert
This summer has been one of Greenland’s hottest on record. The ice cap is melting faster than ever before – a level of melting that was only predicted to occur by 2070 – Photo: Albert
Greenland is hot not only because of rising temperatures, but also because of too many cruise ships visiting it – Photo: Albert
According to the authors, this summer alone, 40 cruise ships visited the small town of Ilulissat located on the west coast of Greenland – Photo: Albert
“When we were there for 12 days this summer, I saw six different ships come and go. One of them carried 3,500 passengers and 900 crew. The entire town of Ilulissat has a population of just under 5,000, and this ship almost doubled the town’s ‘population,'” the authors wrote. Photo: Albert
Icebergs near the shore – Photo: Albert
Sunlight shines on the white ice – Photo: Albert
The moon hangs over the iceberg – Photo: Albert
Colorful houses in Greenland – Photo: Albert
The settlement of Rodebay, about 2 hours by boat from the town of Ilulissat. This small settlement has a population of less than 50 people. The dog in the picture is one of the village’s many sled dogs. They pull sleds in the winter, are “unemployed” in the summer and are generally quite docile – Photo: Albert
A large iceberg in Greenland with a lake in the middle – Photo: Albert
Another iceberg with small “rivers” – Photo: Albert
Flock of seagulls perched on iceberg on a rainy day – Photo: Albert
The 27m high boat is quite small in front of the giant ice wall – Photo: Albert
