For most of us, first-hand knowledge of Greenland is probably limited to flying over it en route to North America. It’s likely that you’ve heard more about it over the last few months than in the rest of your life combined, but geopolitical debates aside, Greenland is also of vital importance for research into the climate and environment.
In recent decades this territory – 80% of which is covered with ice – has recorded a loss of frozen mass that outpaced previous estimates by 20%. This rapid reduction not only has consequences for Greenland’s 56,000 inhabitants, but also on a global scale, as it affects rising sea levels and the balance of the planet’s climate systems.
