As Greenland's ice melts, the island faces a paradox. Photos: Steffen Trumpf/dpa
The ice at the end of the world is melting, and it is melting at record speed, a process that is being closely observed by Karl Sandgreen, 45.
"Everything changed after 1997," says Sandgreen, who comes from the western Greenland town of Ilulissat.
Before that, the sea ice covered the bay off Ilulissat until the end of May or start of June.
"But it disappeared after 1997."Sandgreen's homeland is on the front line of man-made climate change, which is progressing much faster in Greenland than anywhere else in the world.
This silent spectacle is highly impressive, but also frightening, as it makes us acutely aware of the consequences of a warming world.
Sermeq Kujalleq is one of the most active glaciers in the world. As a result of global warming and the associated glacier melt, it has retreated by more than 40km since 1850, and the trend has accelerated dramatically since the turn of the millennium.
Leading politicians from all over the world have travelled to Ilulissat to see the effects of climate change for themselves.
"She didn't appear like other politicians, but was very calm and very modest," says the current director of the Icefjord Centre, an information centre within sight of the colossal icebergs.
The Arctic, where most of Greenland is located, has warmed almost four times as fast as the rest of the world in recent decades, studies show. This has both global and local consequences: While global sea levels continue to rise due to the melting ice in Greenland, people on the world's largest island are having to adapt to a new situation.
Fishing is a core part of Greenland's culture.
At the same time, climate change goes hand in hand with growing economic ambitions, which are also reflected in US President Donald Trump's claims to ownership.
"The retreat of the ice means a new chapter for Greenland," says climate impact researcher Pelle Tejsner from the University of Ilisimatusarfik in Greenland.
All Greenlanders are feeling the effects of climate change, and yet they are divided. Some are affected by the negative consequences in their everyday lives, while others see mainly positive effects.
The more dependent they are on ice for food, the more likely they are to view climate change as a negative development, says Tejsner.
"People can no longer read the weather as accurately as they used to," he says. "They can't judge whether it's still safe to go seal or whale hunting."
In southern Greenland, on the other hand, conditions are now better for growing potatoes and vegetables, for example. Such products normally have to be delivered from Denmark at great expense, and the prices for them in Greenlandic supermarkets are consequently high.
In Ilulissat, fishermen report that the sea ice no longer supported the dogsleds they used for fishing and hunting. As a result, there are now thousands fewer dogs in the town of 5,000 inhabitants than before - but many more boats, with which the fishermen now catch much more halibut than before.
"When I went to the supermarket as a child, they sometimes had no cheese, no milk, no eggs. Some shops were completely empty back then."
Now, it is different, he says.
At the same time, there are stronger storms that can trigger violent waves on the coasts. A friend of his lost his house in such a storm three years ago, says Sandgreen.
"We've never experienced anything like that before."
He is concerned that climate change could lead to an increase in tsunamis like the one in North Greenland in 2017. And a museum in Ilulissat may soon have to close because the permafrost underneath is thawing very quickly, causing the building to sink, Sandgreen fears.
The thawing has created cracks in the ground in the region that he has never seen before.
At the same time, for Greenland, climate change means that mineral resources are becoming more accessible and shipping routes that were once frozen over are becoming passable, at least in summer.
The number of ships passing through the Arctic has increased by 37% within a decade, and the distance they have travelled there by as much as 111%. The port of Nuuk could become a more important transhipment centre and a source of income for the Greenlandic economy.
If the route from the Northwest to the Northeast Passage is also opened up in future, this could reduce the journey time for ships travelling between Europe and Japan or China from 22 days to around 10 days compared to the journey through the Suez Canal.
So it is not surprising that China has been trying to establish a foothold in the Arctic for years. Trump meanwhile aims to prevent such moves, considering the military and economic outlook.
However, even greater hopes are pinned on the island's vast stores of raw materials. Scientists - and the world powers - already see enormous potential in them.
Whoever secures Greenland's mineral deposits could become a big player alongside global market leader China.
"That's what the Arctic has always been about: it's a race for resources," he says.
Climate change has ultimately accelerated this race.
"It has opened windows of opportunity: The ice is melting and new land is opening up." – dpa
