Greenlandic glaciers come for your shores
27 September 2024
When the Arctic feels the heat, so do you. This truth hit home like never before when a group of scientists discovered that a landslide in the remote Dickson Fjord in eastern Greenland last year shook the Earth – really, all of it – for nine days.
In September 2023, the landslide triggered a 200-metre tall wave, which was trapped in a narrow fjord, rocking back and forth and causing vibrations that were picked up by seismographs around the world. Luckily, as the happening was so remote, no people were harmed. At the same time, landslides like this will become more common as the glaciers supporting Greenland's mountains melt due to the climate crisis.
 | Amalie Holmgaard Mersh The melting of Greenland's glaciers does not only threaten the local population, but it also has a direct impact on the rest of the world. According to the University of Copenhagen, if all Greenland's glaciers and inland ice melted, global water levels would on average rise 7 metres. Greenland's inland ice is almost 5 times as big as Germany, several kilometres thick, and disappearing at a rate of three swimming pools a second all year round. As researcher Kristian Lauta tells the Danish Broadcaster, the issue with people really grasping the magnitude of the disaster is that it arrives in slow motion – it has to hurt before we are ready for a fundamental change. Waiting any longer would be a grave mistake. Over 410 million people's lives and livelihoods could be at risk of coastal flooding by 2100, says The World Economic Forum, who held their first dedicated high-level meeting on sea-level rise on Wednesday. While climate mitigation is crucial, we also need to put more emphasis on adaptation measures, such as Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK's strengthened design standards for building and coastal infrastructure including sea walls, surge barriers, water pumps and overflow chambers. Another option is focusing on nature-based solutions, including restoring wetlands. |
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