Greenland’s Way of Living Is Changing as the Arctic Warms Due to Climate Change

For centuries, communities in northern Greenland have lived in one of the harshest environments on the planet.

However, temperatures in the Arctic region have risen faster than anywhere else on the planet, and the impact of climate change is being felt on the local way of life.

On the outskirts of Ilulissat, colorful residential buildings overlook a field teeming with dogs.

Kaleeraq still has over 30. He used to use his dogs for tourism, but now he only keeps them for his adolescent son. "I still miss that way of life," he says, "but it has to be like this for now."

Greenland's culture shifts due to climate change

(Photo : Visit Greenland/Unsplash)

Dog sledding has long been a tradition in Greenland's north and east.

However, many local hunters and fishers have given up, and the number of sled dogs has plummeted across the country, as per BBC.

There were roughly 5,000 dogs in Ilulissat alone around two decades ago, but now there are only about 1,800, according to Flemming Lauritzen, who owns a dog-sledding tour business with his wife Ane Sofie.

Sled dogs were usually present when she was a kid, she added, "I'm saddened to see dogs disappearing from our society."

Diseases and snowmobiles are both to blame. Climate change has also had an influence. "We can sense the season growing shorter and shorter," added Flemming.

They've also seen the surrounding glaciers recede with time.

"All of this ice is gone now," Flemming said, pointing to a chart of the Sermeq Kujalleg, also known as the Jakobshavn glacier.

It is a Greenland ice cap outflow. Every year, more than 35,000 cubic metres of ice calve from the glacier, and more icebergs calve into Disko Bay than anywhere else in the northern hemisphere.

"The weather was more dependable when I was a youngster. We never know how the winter will be these days," said George Jonathansen, the tour boat's skipper.

"In comparison to other years, I believe this year has been different. This summer was cold," he said. "And there was a lot of rain in Greenland."

When asked about climate change, Avannaata district mayor Palle Jerimiassen responds, "We can feel it every day. We witness it every day."

He told the BBC that diminishing sea ice is affecting local hunters farther north, near Thule. They're used to embarking on really extended hunting trips.

They are no longer able to do so. As a result, they must alter their way of life.

"There are some negatives, but there are also some positives," he said.

In some aspects, living in the Arctic has gotten simpler. Milder winters have opened up new possibilities, and Ilulissat is thriving.

Nutrients from glacier meltwater are enhancing marine life, and boat fishing is now feasible all year. Halibut is also more expensive, and fisherman like Kaleeraq are now better off.

Prior to the pandemic, researchers from the Universities of Copenhagen and Greenland discovered that 90% of Greenlanders believe climate change is occurring.

Three-quarters claimed they had personally experienced its impacts, and a strong majority indicated it was a personal concern for them.

While most of these reports are anecdotal, scientists have issued dire warnings about the impact of global warming on Greenland's ice sheet.

Also Read: Adapting to Climate Change Could Still Mean Environmental Troubles

Greenland ice sheet shrinks for 25th year in a row

According to statistics from the Danish Arctic monitoring service Polar Portal, which is included in the UN meteorological agency WMO's annual State of the Climate report, early summer was chilly and wet, with exceptionally heavy and late snowfall in June, delaying the commencement of the melting season.

However, a heatwave at the end of July resulted in significant ice loss, as per the UN.

In terms of "total mass balance," the ice sheet lost about 166 billion tonnes over the 12-month period ending in August 2021 (the sum of surface melting and loss of ice chunks from icebergs, as well as melting of glacier "tongues" in contact with the ocean).

These figures indicated that the ice sheet concluded the season with a net surface mass balance of roughly 396 billion tonnes, the 28th lowest level in the 41-year time span.

This year may be called ordinary, but Polar Report highlighted how perceptions have shifted as a result of rapidly approaching climate change.

At the end of the 1990s, for example, these identical values would have been classified as a year with an extremely low surface mass balance.

The research also mentioned that the early summer coolness might be caused by weather in southwest Canada and the northwest United States.

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