As it was mentioned in the previous article, our 3Bmeteo team has traveled to Greenland in order to verify the climate changes that are happening the last few years and the influence that can have on our planet and daily life. A part of our team transferred to Greenland for the project, which began on 16th June and ended on 29th June.
Team’s first stage of the exhibition to Ilulissat: Ilulissat represents the first stage of this important expedition which includes several appointments in this area for the next four days, meetings with local natives, in search of Greenland’s whales, up to to visit the suggestive Eqi glacier, the point where the Greenland’s Ice Cap reaches the sea. Located about 80 km north of Ilulissat, the numerous collapses and detachments of ice on the marine waters of this glacier can be observed. Eqi glacier, the point where Greenland’s Ice Cap reaches the sea. Ilulissat means “icebergs” in the Greenlandic language Kalaallisut, precisely because of the numerous and immense icebergs that detach from the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier (also known as Ice cap).
First day in Ilulissat (17/06)- first impression: First strong emotions already occurred during the flight over the Greenlandic cap, with expanses of glittering ice interspersed with gullies, crevasses, fjords and angular mountains, as evidenced by the first images that arrived in the editorial office to accompany this article. Not only terrestrial ice but also sea ice, with a myriad of floating icebergs like a sort of constellation facing the coast. The weather was colder than usual with temperatures near 1-2°C and even some snowflakes.
Second day in Ilulissat (18/06)- Ice melting and house flooding: during the second day of the trip our team the day was warmer with temperatures between 3-6°C. The team discovered that during the last few years the village is undergoing profound changes caused by global warming, like much less ice than the past, which brought house flooding as they are literally sinking into the bare ground, losing the support of the pre-existing ice, while now they are melting for several months of the year. Another observation is that the bay in front of the town has much less sea ice than it used to, as it was remaining completely frozen from October to May, while today the bay is used to freeze only during January and February. The bay was subsequently explored aboard a boat to admire the icebergs closely, their confirmation and their floating dynamics on the water: just think that some icebergs capsize completely, due to the melting of their base submerged in water, which unbalances the center of gravity (these icebergs are shinier than the others due to the emergence of the submerged part and is not affected by the weather conditions). Between the icebergs, two whales can be seen in the video, making this day special.
Third day in Ilulissat (19/06)- Observing whales, an endangered species: third day of the journey, 3BMeteo team had taken a cruise between the icebergs to track the largest mammals in the world, the whales. Whales are animals which are threatened by extinction in particular due to the wicked hunting practiced between the 50s and 60s of the last century. In fact, Greenland was one of the first victims of the whaling industry with a decrease in the population before hunting was banned in 1966. Nowadays, there are an estimated 14.400 species from the 50.000 that lived before the hunted period. As sea temperature is rising, sea ice is melting so this leads to narwhals, whales and belugas to move northwards.
Fourth day in Ilulissat (20/06)- Exploration of the Eqi Glacier, a symbol of global warming: Fourth day in Ilulissat and our team traveled towards the bay of the Eqi Glacier, a symbol of global warming. The Eqi Glacier is about 5 km wide with a height of 250 meters and is often called the calving glacier as people can always see small and large pieces of ice breaking off. The Eqi glacier is perhaps one of the greatest examples of global warming. The local guide of our team explained how the glacier has undergone a strong retreat during the last 20 years. This retreat is also testified by the signs that were left along the rocks that formed the cliff of the bay 20 years ago. Nowadays, due to the rise of the average global temperature, the glacier is continuing to lose parts of ice. The glacier is located close to the western coast of Greenland and our team reached it through a cruise among the ice.
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