Ever since Donald J Trump returned to the White House for his second term as US President, Greenland has been hitting the headlines when it comes to global politics.
But its position within the Arctic Circle also puts it at the coal face of the climate crisis. This week on Ecolution, the climate podcast for young people, we head way North to meet a Danish Marine Ecologist living and working in Greenland, and a climate scientist in the USA.
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Mie S Winding is the Department Head of the Greenland Climate Research Centre in Nuuk, Greenland. Her work explores the intersection of biodiversity, ecosystems, and climate. She is a dedicated marine biologist with a profound fascination for the ocean and its wonders.
Two thirds of Greenland’s area falls north of the Arctic circle, an invisible boundary that marks where you can experience the midnight sun in Midsummer on 21 June and the Arctic winter in December. And the Arctic Circle is warming at 4 times the rate of the international average of global heating.
As Mie says "it's not new that people are interested in Greenland. We have been a hotspot of climate change for a long period. But now we are also a little bit more interesting because we are also placed in a important part of the world. Many people in the shipping industry will say it's a good thing that sea ice melts, because that opens up new shipping possibilities; you can transfer cargo more easily around the Arctic. So a lot of things happening in the Arctic and in Greenland right now, has the world's eyes looking at us."
On the podcast she talks about the changing landscape of Greenland, what melting glaciers mean both there and further afield, as well as the impact rising temperatures have on the sea ice that, until now, has kept the polar regions cooler.
Plus, we meet Zack Labe, an internationally renowned climate scientist looking to find the signal in all the noise. Based in the United States, Zack’s research aims to untangle climate change patterns from natural variability, providing clearer insights into climate risks. He’s also an expert at making science more engaging through storytelling and visualization. And huge amounts of his work centre on what’s happening in the Arctic and Antarctic right now.
Zack speaks about global warming, sea ice and rising sea levels, as well as the ongoing threat to science research like his in the US under the current administration.
And our YouTube panel brings the Irish perspective. Our panel is talking all about rising sea levels - what's causing them, how they’re affecting our world, and what we can do to help stop it. Watch more on the RTÉ Kids YouTube channel.
Ecolution is produced by Nicky Coghlan with production assistance from Aoife O'Neill and presented by Evie Kenny.
Visit rte.ie/jrpodcasts for more great content for young listeners.
