“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
The Winter Programme
One of our students has written this account of the College's Winter Programme. The experience I had of the Winter Programme was one of the best experiences in RCN. It is run for ‘travel support’ [...]
2016 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony
5 students - Juan Pablo (Colombia), Pam (Colombia / Venezuela), Yael (Israel), Shweta (India) and Helen (Germany) - and one member of staff (Hilde from Norway) from UWC Red Cross Nordic attended the 2016 Nobel [...]
RCN Board Meeting in Oslo
The Board members of UWC RCN met in Oslo on Friday 2nd December for its quarterly meeting at the offices of our partners, the Norwegian Red Cross. On the evening before, Marianne Andresen kindly hosted [...]