I'm 350 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle in the third largest city in Greenland,
with a name that translates literally as icebergs
then you know what you're going to get here this is Ilulissat
with a population of around 5 000 people Ilulissat is the last major settlement as you head north
along Greenland's rocky and barren west coast, it is also undoubtedly one of the world's most
remarkable destinations. later in this film I'll be heading out amongst the icebergs
and also finding out why climate change is so visible in this location, but first some history
Ilulissat's most famous son is the polar explorer and Anthropologist Knud Rasmussen, this was his
childhood home then a vicarage and now the town's Museum, it recounts his various explorations of
both Greenland and the Arctic coasts of North America as well as the fascinating history of the
Town itself ,and just outside the main building you have the chance to experience a greenlandic
Turf house. Turf houses like this were in use in Greenland well into the 20th century and although
extremely small by today's standards especially if you think that a whole family was living inside
they did one thing very well indeed which was to keep you warm during The Long Winter. as for
Rasmussen though, he didn't mind the cold one bit, he once famously said "give me winter give me dogs
and you can keep the rest". the town was established as a Trading Post in 1741 by the
Danish Merchant Jacob Severin as jakobshaven or Jacob's Harbour in English, the town bore
his name until Greenland achieved home rule in the 1980s and it was renamed Ilulissat
or icebergs in greenlandic. a short walk from the museum brings you to a llulissat's most
photographed building, the Zion Church, which at the time of its construction was the largest
building in the whole of Greenland. the view from the steps of the church well it's almost too
incredible to put into words across the icebergs of Disko Bay to the snowy peaks of Disko Island
and it's a scene that changes with every minute of every day
throughout its history fishing for prawns and halibut in Disko Bay has been the mainstay of
the economy and both feature very heavily on the menus of the local restaurants, these days of
course the economy is also boosted by catering for tourists and increasingly visiting climatologists
the
human inhabitants of the Town share it with 3 000 sled dogs who provide
a howling soundtrack to everyday life here. feeding time for the sled dogs!
the town sits on the northern side of the Ilulissat icefjord
a UNESCO world heritage site since 2004 and a location that provides
clear evidence of the acceleration of the melting ice cap here in Greenland
you could spend all day here sitting on land watching the icebergs float by,
as long as you had the right thermal clothing on of course,
but at some point you're going to have to get out on a boat and truly get amongst the icebergs
this is icefield gin with ice Fjord ice, definitely a first
Casper it's said that the icefjord is Ground Zero for climate change what changes
are people here noticing? um what people are noticing, especially the locals, are that the
Glacier is moving a lot quicker than what it used to do and the icebergs are way smaller
than what they used to be and that's mainly because the Glacier front has gone from being
in the water so now it has retreated back up on shore so therefore the icebergs that calf
from the glacier front they're simply just way shorter, way smaller. how far has it receded in
recent years? From 1850 to 1950 the glacier front retreated 25 kilometers and then from
1950 to 1960 the glacier front was rather stable but then from the 1960s and up to the year 2000
then the glacier front has retreated 40 kilometers as well and that's like it goes very quickly and
way quicker than what it should do. it's a it's normal procedure that the glacier will melt
during the summer and then it will go back during the winter but right now the the winters they are
not as long or as cold as they used to be and the summers are getting longer and way hotter. how is
that affecting the lives of people? in Ilulissat the locals they can they can fish longer yeah but
then they have a huge culture for dog-sledding and the season for dog-sledding has become way
shorter, and also it's not as safe to go in the Disko Bay along the coast. before time they could
go dog-sledding along the coast but right now then it's that's not possible because it's similar safe
the ice will not get that thick anymore and that's a problem for the people in the smaller hamlets in
the Disko Bay then the ice is too thick for the smaller boats but it's too thin for dog sledding
so therefore they are kind of stuck where normally they would use the dogs that or the snow scooter
but now it's not possible because the ice is not big enough because it will not go get cold enough,
so and that's actually making it harder to get like everyday groceries and for the
people to get back and forward and visit their families because it's not it's not that simple,
they have to wait for the big passenger ships that comes one time a month to break the ice,
so they are they are stuck out there in the small hamlets. so major impact not just
for the world but for the people here? also for the local communities yeah that's right
the mouth of the icefjord is much shallower so this is where the
really large icebergs get stuck for up to two years before they
either break up or get pushed out, and the captain's taking us right up to the wall
Recenty there has been a new addition to the landscape the Icefjord Centre was opened in 2021,
with the external form of a snowy owl it is in my opinion a perfect marriage of Danish
style and greenlandic tradition, it's unlike any other Visitor Center that I've been to,
and the highlight was a sound installation that captures the
actual groans and roars of the ice cap from various locations around this vast country
and then from the centre it's a short walk to the icefjjord itself,
although this being Greenland the weather is of course not guaranteed to be favourable.
24 hours later and the view is radically different now you can see all the way across the icefjord
and it's an utterly unbelievable sight, the front of the glacier from which all of these icebergs
are being carved is now 40 kilometers away and as Casper said it's receding at an alarming rate.
as the icebergs exit the icefjord into Disko Bay they are initially carried northwards by
the current along the coast before being caught by the much stronger current that
will send them southwards along the coast of Labrador and then the largest bergs here
well you might spot them off the coast of Newfoundland in a few months time. one of
the world's most famous icebergs left this ice Fjord, and it sank the Titanic!
we're now leaving Ilulissat but yesterday we took a boat trip to the Eqi glacier,
make sure to watch that next, and also don't forget to subscribe,
there are loads more films about Greenland on the channel. see you soon!