Climate Change in Greenland Greenland is one of the places where the dramatic nature of climate change can be most directly observed, through the melting of the ice sheets that comprise the island.  In few parts of the world is climate change more real -- and personal -- than here. The Arctic is feeling the globe's fastest warming. At a science station in the ice-covered interior of Greenland, average winter temperatures rose nearly 11 degrees Fahrenheit from 1991 to 2003. Winters are shorter, ice is melting, and fish and animals are on the move.  The Ilulissat glacier in west-central Greenland, 155 miles above the Arctic Circle is massive: three miles wide and nearly one mile tall. It is also disappearing at a remarkable rate, having receded by nine miles over the past four years. The picture to the right shows how much the ice sheet has already melted, displaying the difference between 1992 and 2002.  The Greenland ice sheet contains enough water to raise global sea levels by 15 to 20 feet.     What does this have to do with poverty, you ask?  As the sea levels rise due to the melting, marginalized communities along the coast are disappearing.  Click here to learn about the Carteret Islands in Papua New Guinea.     Learn More! Click here to learn what you can do to fight global warming Resources on global warming Climate Change and Poverty Climate Change Home