“People from all around the world, politicians and scientists come to Greenland to see the inland ice,” she says. “We are at the centre of this.”
A significant portion of the ice sheet is thought to be on the verge of a tipping point, where melting could soon become unavoidable even if emissions are cut. The ice sheet is hugely important to stabilizing the global climate, as it provides a vast white region that reflects sunlight back into space. But as the ice melts, the reflective surface shrinks, leading to more warming and melting and in turn, sea level rise. Scientists say sea level rises of one to two metres is probably already inevitable.
Frederiksen knows that the melting ice sheet will have negative impacts on communities across Greenland, especially in northern settlements such as Qaanaaq where permafrost melting is destabilizing homes and roads and impacting how fishers and hunters operate.
But her real concern lies on the impact it will have globally. “I am not so scared of what the effects of the melting of ice in Greenland will be,” Frederiksen says, “It scares me what effect it can have for the rest of the world.”
Latest News
International Children’s Day
Last Saturday some of our students participated in the celebration of International Children’s Day and the “Colourful Førde” World Food Festival at Førdehuset. A group of Nordic-speaking students helped host the children’s activities, which were [...]
Sexual Health Workshops
Over the past weekend at the College, the Red Cross Youth in Sogn og Fjordane held an instructor course for students as part of their activities promoting sexual health. Twelve students from the RCN participated. [...]
Global Concerns
Is RCN Ecologically Sustainable? The theme of the autumn-term Global Concerns Day at RCN was "Is UWCRCN sustainable?". We welcomed some guests - both students and staff - from Aurland Jord og Hagebruksskule and from [...]