*Image from the National Snow and Ice Data Center
It’s a blistering nineteen degrees Celsius on what seems to be a stunning summer’s morning in Nuuk. Coffee on the balcony proves too much for me in the intense morning sun and I retreat indoors. It’s hot. It’s already six degrees hotter than the average high for July in Nuuk, and only one week into the month. The average temperature for June this year was almost four degrees hotter than the average for the years 1961–1990 (World Meteorological Association). For May it was the same.
In fact, 2019 is shaping up to be remarkably hot and the news of it is hitting the headlines. Recently, a viral video and still images showed sled-dogs seemingly walking on water in northwest Greenland, over the early summer sea ice melt. Even in early May, NASA was warning of massive early melting of the ice sheet, at a time when global atmospheric carbon dioxide levels hit a record high at almost 415 parts per million. While the ice goes through a cycle of melting and freezing seasonally, the scale of this year’s early melt is concerning. In recent years, the Greenland ice sheet is estimated to have lost around 250 billion tons of ice per year, which is a six-fold increase on thirty years ago. This year, a massive spike in June saw melting over 40% of the surface of the ice cap, with loss of about two billion tons of ice in just that one day. Spikes like this are reminiscent of 2012, which saw the highest degree of melting on record.
Greenland is at the sharp end of climate change. But that doesn’t mean everyone agrees about what is happening or why. A few weeks ago, the Minister for Industry and Energy in Greenland succombed to the depths of his own misinformation. Expressing his view that climate change is unrelated to human activities proved too much for his political resilience.
“I do not believe in global warming as such. I believe the earth has a natural cycle,” (translated) stated former Minister Aqqalu Jerimiassen, also expressing his view that climate change scientists are using global warming for their own financial gain. His comments were rapidly followed by a general loss of confidence and an exit from his Ministerial position.
I wonder if the former Minister is now enjoying the unseasonal weather in all his extra leisure hours?
