Just recently, a shocking photo from Greenland went viral, showing sled dogs, knee-deep in water, running across a frozen lake. The picture was taken during a yearly expedition by Danish researchers who measure ice thickness around Greenland. Each June, just before all the sea ice has melted, they go out onto the ice sheet using dog sleds to collect their instruments before they sink into the sea.
Image posted in a tweet by Rasmus Tonboe on June 14, 2019
The appearance of standing water on the sea indicates how unusually warm it’s been in the Arctic this June. In fact, temperatures have been above average all year long across the entire Arctic, which is consistent with the long-term trend of global warming.
The increased attention Greenland gained as the center of climate change conversation boosted its’ tourism. Greenland Tourism Bureau answered on this growing concern and even devoted a page to it on the official Greenland tourism website, where they try to assure potential tourists that melting ice doesn’t mean there’s nothing to see.
In general, Greenland tourism is relatively small, but it did record an increase in cruise tourism with about 30.000 cruise visitors per year and in land-based tourism with around 35.000 visitors flying in. Now their plan is to attract more tourists and boost sales on the island. Therefore, they decided to introduce a couple of novelties; new hotels are being built, airports in the region are to be expanded by 2023 and a new airport for domestic flights will also be built. This will boost both domestic and foreign traffic with a 10% yearly increase in visitor number being expected.
Tasiilaq, East Greenland
These plans, however, haven’t undergone without some criticism. Why would a region so directly affected by climate change strive to increase its’ tourism traffic? Experts express further concern related to air traffic as airplanes emit vast amounts of CO2, which ultimately contributes a great deal to climate change. It remains to be seen how the plans are ultimately combined with the principles of sustainability.