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Glacier Accelerates
Fighting Warming
Climate Change
Testimony
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2005 Greenpeace Greenland Voyage
for Research on Climate Change
In 2005, as part of my duties as Field Logistics Officer for the One World Expedition, an expedition to carry out the first summer crossing of the Arctic Ocean, the major sponsor, Greenpeace invited me to sail onboard the Greenpeace ship, MYAS Arctic Sunrise. The purpose of this two month voyage was to assist scientists in carrying out research on Greenland’s melting icecap and accelerating glaciers. It was also to find out how Global Warming is affecting the indigenous people who rely on good sea ice to travel and hunt for subsistence the marine mammals that also live in these icy waters, and to lobby the world’s governments in making environmental changes to reduce the rapid rate at which the earth’s climate is warming.
I would assist the Captain and 27crew onboard this 50 metre ice-strengthened steel ship, equipped with helicopter and reinforced rubber boats. My jobs included carrying out deckhand duties, shipboard safety watch, assist with the training and preparation of shore parties working on the glaciers and icecap, and to help with logistics and contacts at many of the towns and villages we visited. It was a great pleasure to re-visit Greenland after an absence of four years, and to experience this wonderful Arctic environment that Lonnie and I witnessed every day during our two year circumnavigation by kayak and dog team during the years 1997 – 2001. It was wonderful to travel deep into some of the major fjord systems which we hadn’t earlier visited, to conduct studies on the glaciers and icecaps. There was also great times had reacquainting with friends, nature and memories from our earlier expedition.
It was a very successful journey for the scientific research. Glaciological
studies, by Dr. Gordon Hamilton and PhD student Leigh Stearns from
the University of Maine, showed first hand that Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier,
one of the eastern outlet glaciers was flowing at almost three times
the speed in the last decade, and had receded about five km after
maintaining a stable position for the past 40 years. The other glaciers
studied south of there had also showed similar dramatic change.
“As the warming trend migrates north, glaciers at higher latitudes in Greenland might also respond in the same way as Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier. In turn, this could have serious implications for the rate of sea level rise.” concluded Dr. Hamilton.
The Greenland Ice Sheet could melt down if regional warming exceeds about three degrees C. If this were to occur, sea level would rise approximately seven meters over a few thousand years. However, half a meter to one meter rise in sea level in the next century would have significant impacts on society. More than 70 percent of the world's population lives on coastal plains, and 11 of the world's 15 largest cities are on the coast or estuaries
Dr Jason Box from the Byrd Polar Research Institute, University of Ohio was fortunate to be able to access various snow core drilling sites by helicopter from the ship. From these core samples he can determine the snow accumulation rates of the past 1-2 years, and see if there has been an increase in snowfall. He was also able to install and maintain some automatic cameras set up to determine the speed of glaciers and formation of melt lakes.
One task I helped Dr. Box with, was the hydrographic survey of melt
water lakes inland from Ilulissat, West Greenland. These lakes even
at elevations of around 1400 metres appear in the warm summer swept
by constant daylight, on top of the icecap. When flying in the helicopter
up to them, I couldn’t believe the numbers of lakes visible. The melt
lakes were a very beautiful shade of blue, but seemed unnatural in
this icy landscape, with an endless ice-capped desert surrounding
these depressions. On closer inspection, we saw these lakes discharging
torrents of water deep down shaft in the ice. There is a lot of melting
going on! This water helps lubricate the ice to flow downward as glaciers.
We rigged up a small inflatable boat with a 2 hp motor and a depth
sounder and proceded to survey the depth (up to 11 metres) of this
lake which was around 1.6 km wide. With the wind blowing it was quite
choppy and we got wet with cold spray. These depth recordings with
associated colour pictures will be used to estimate the volume of
ice melting, from satellite pictures.
Many testimonials were received from interviews with local Greenlanders
in all the regions visited. We wanted to know how these climatic changes
are affecting these lives, both with hunting, travel, industries and
family life. We also invited many people aboard with Open Boat exhibits
in various towns. It was a lot of fun meeting the locals, adults and
kids which came aboard. Greenlanders are certainly fun people! Information
gathered was then used for campaigns throughout the world in trying
to influence policies of the governments, to educate people about
the problems and hopefully create a better environment for our future
generations to live.
For further information about our voyage and Climate Change, please
read the other documents in this section or go to the www.projectthinice.org
Link.
John
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