Greenland has an arctic climate, but owing to its size there are variations in weather.winters can be severe and summers can be mild.The coast has no ice on it.The total area of greenland measures 2,166,086km2 of which the greenland icesheet covers 1,755,637km2.
about 81% of greenlands surface is covered in ice.the extreme north of greenland is not covered in ice because the air is to dry to produce ice and snow which is essntial to make an ice sheet.if the greenland ice sheet were to melt away sea levels would rise by 7m and greenland would become an archipelago.(a chain of or cluster of islands)the temperature there has risen 6 degrees between 1991-2004.
What are the effects of global warming on greenland?
The effects In southwestern Greenland, for example, the grass-growing season gets longer each year, boosting productivity for some 60 sheep farms now established in the region. Up to 23,500 sheep and lambs are slaughtered annually. Dairy cattle have recently been reintroduced, and a government-led project is expected to yield 29,058 gallons (110,000 litres) of milk annually.
"The warmer climate will have a definite positive effect on Greenland's economic possibilities and development," the report said.
How are the animals effected?
According to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessement, the largest study ever conducted on the effects of warming in the Arctic, winter temperatures above the 63rd parallel have increased on average, by 2 to 5 degrees over the past 50 years and could rise by yet another 10. That increase is having a dramatic effect on the wildlife, environment and culture of the high Arctic. In an interview for the Arctic climate impact assessement Project, a Savissavik hunter said hunters are spending more time in the fjords (rather than on the sea ice) because there is less sea ice on which to hunt seal, walrus and polar bear. He also said that hunters who net seals under the ice in winter must pull in those nets within hours after an animal is caught. Worms and parasites that the hunters have never seen before rapidly riddle and destroy the carcasses if they are left in the water very long. Eliassen says he believes the parasites have moved north with the warmer water.
how are the inuit people affected?
People worry about the polar bear becoming extinct by 2070 because there will be no ice from which they can hunt seals, but the Inuit face extinction for the same reason and at the same time. Among the problems the Inuit face is permafrost melting, which has destroyed the foundations of houses, eroded the seashore and forced people to move inland. Airport runways, roads and harbours are also collapsing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50VsqD4ORNA
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