It’s one thing to hear about the Greenland ice sheet; it’s
another thing to see it. It’s one thing to read about the
impacts of global warming on the native people there; it’s
another thing to have them look you in the eye and tell you.
These were the highlights of our trip to Greenland. Words like
“awesome,” “majestic,” “incredible,” don’t go far enough as your
boat rides alongside the icebergs that are as large as coliseums
– and the color of turquoise. These icebergs -- average age
9,000 years – have broken off an ice stream that is five miles
wide and is fed by ice that travels hundreds of miles from the
center of Greenland. They are heading to the Atlantic Ocean at a
speed twice as fast as in 1985; melting at a rate that will lead
to sea level rises with disastrous consequences unless we act to
reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide that have already caused
the temperature in Greenland to rise 4 degrees since 1988. The
entire Greenland ice sheet at risk is 1200 miles long by 500
miles wide. Why does it m