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Treading on thin ice - 6th December 2023

Storing around 12 percent of the planet’s freshwater, Greenland’s glaciers are melting at an exponential rate, threatening a global sea level rise of up to 7 metres. While the climate crisis increases the likelihood of this happening, it’s the Inuit of Ittoqqortoormiit who are already bearing the brunt of its impact, as their drinking water supply dwindles.

The Arctic’s seeing temperatures soar at a rate four times that of the global average. This is devastating the village’s glacial water source according to Erling Rasmussen from the utility company.

Erling Rasmussen: “But it's melting so maybe in a few years it's gone. It can be a problem. So I think in the future the city will have to get it's drinking water from the ocean.”

Situated on the Earth’s largest fjord system, Scoresby Sound, Ittoqqortoormiit, a town of 300 inhabitants, remains inaccessible to supply vessels for 11 months a year. Consequently, bitter winters, robust ice and constant snow are vital for sourcing food and freshwater. One of the last surviving Inuit hunting communities, residents primarily consume a diet of narwhals, polar bears and Atlantic cod.

Nevertheless, soaring temperatures have thinned and weakened the ice, resulting in hazardous conditions whereby hunters and their families fall through the ice. The thinning ice also raises the potential for polar bear attacks, as it forces them closer to the village in search of prey.

According to scientists who’ve been undertaking annual observations of Ittoqqortoormiit’s ice for decades, the glaciers are teetering on the brink of collapse due to climate change. They caution that the world needs to take urgent action to avoid catastrophe.

Local teacher Pusle Jørgen Danielsen’s concerned that younger generations will never experience the traditional Inuit lifestyle.

Pusle Jørgen Danielsen: "I hope the children can understand that the whole world has changed, everything has changed. Many years ago there was always ice in the summer, all the time. Now it’s disappearing much faster."