For Karl Sandgreen, the changes in his hometown have been stark. “Everything changed after 1997,” says the 45-year-old director of the Icefjord Centre. Once, sea ice covered the bay until early summer. Now, it vanishes far earlier, a visible sign of the accelerating climate crisis gripping Greenland.
The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the world, and Ilulissat’s towering icebergs serve as both a warning and an economic opportunity. The Sermeq Kujalleq glacier, one of the most active in the world, has retreated by more than 40 kilometers since 1850, with the pace quickening since 2000.
For Greenlanders, climate change brings both hardship and new possibilities. Traditional hunters struggle as ice conditions become unpredictable, while fishermen catch more halibut using boats instead of sled dogs. Meanwhile, warming temperatures allow for local farming, reducing reliance on costly imports from Denmark.
Beyond local impacts, the retreating ice has global significance. Melting glaciers contribute to rising sea levels, but they also open up mineral-rich lands and navigable shipping routes. The number of ships crossing the Arctic has surged, and nations like China and the US are eyeing Greenland’s rare earth resources with growing interest.
“Greenland is like a sweet shop for rare earths,” says climate researcher Pelle Tejsner, highlighting the geopolitical race unfolding in the Arctic. As the ice melts, a new chapter begins—one of both climate peril and economic ambition.
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