Thomas Juul-Pedersen – Scientist and program manager at the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources

Nuuk – Latitude 64° 10’ N – Longitude 051° 44’ W

18,000 inhabitants

Interviewed in September 2010

Since a few years, we record all the evolution which undergoes the climate in Greenland. However, we have limited information compared with the knowledge and with the memory of the inhabitants of the small communities. Everybody can see and notice that things change very quickly, here, in the country. As you know, 80 % of our exports result from maritime resources which are:  the shrimp and the halibut. We concentrate a lot on the study of the ice floe around Greenland. Because of the melting of the Inlandsis, there is a more important quantity of fresh water which affects the equilibrium of fjords and coasts. We do not know what will happen if this situation continues. The whole marine ecosystem of Greenland could be affected. In various areas of the North, the local life is now affected by the recession and the disappearance of the ice floe in winter. They have no memory of so long periods without using their sledge, while they were using it regularly in winter only ten years ago.

We notice a higher frequency of overflow on glacial lakes. This phenomenon has always existed, but today, with more rapid melting, these overflows are more frequent. The effects are impressive, as large quantities of water escape from the bottom of glaciers.

Last September, thousands of scorpion fish living in the depth of the fjords of Nuuk have found themselves trapped, pushed to the surface, where they died.

Many arctic species such as polar bears, whales, seals have a high rate of pollutants and heavy metals in their bodies. All these contaminants come from industrialized countries. They come mainly through the air to finish in the sea. Those pollutants do not exist locally. They come from industrialized societies. The same way as the global warming  is not caused by our polar regions. The Arctic reveals problems which have originated in the south.

We have not had any snow this winter while in Europe it was one of the coldest winters (2010).

In the north east of Greenland, researches, started in 1996 and computerized since 2005, show that the flowers bloom with three to four weeks in advance. This confirms  that spring comes earlier and it is warmer. This shifting forward continues with ice floe that comes later. This shows that the warm period is longer. The animals are trying to adapt to these changes.

Nobody can answer the question: "what will happen when there will be no more ice floe in summer?" Are polar bears going to adapt themselves? Or are they completely going to disappear? This situation having never arrived, we do not know the answer.