The effects of a warming climate over the past 67 years can be seen in comparing these two photos. The loss of ice from the Russell Glacier at the edge of the Greenland ice cap is noticeable when comparing the photo above that I took in September 2021 with the one below taken in 1954 … Read More
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Close, Closer, Closest: Salix glauca, an Arctic Dwarf Willow
The rolling hills of the tundra around Kangerlussuaq are covered with small shrubs — nothing grows higher than a few feet in the Arctic climate. One common plant is Salix glauca, a dwarf species of willow. During September, it was covered with fibrous white cottony tufts with tiny black seeds. The top photo shows a … Read More
Initial Reflections on My Greenland Experience
Yesterday I made the long trip home from the Arctic village of Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, where I spent the month of September documenting its an unusual geopolitical and cross-cultural history. Having been thwarted by the pandemic from beginning it in summer of 2020 as planned, in mid-July I jumped on the sudden opportunity to book flights … Read More
Climate Change at the Reindeer Glacier
The glacier in 2021 (above) and 2018 (below). It has changed so much in three years, I didn’t recognize it at first.
Welcome to Sondrestrom Air Base
The air traffic control tower at the Sondrestrom Air Base in Kangerlussuaq with a decorative sign on the roof of the building behind it and a welcome sign with the names of the unit and the base commander in front of it appears in many vintage photographs from the 1960s and ’70s. Above, a 1972 … Read More
New Uses for Old Oil Drums
The guardrail along the road up the side of Black Ridge in Kangerlussuaq is made from old metal oil drums filled with gravel to weigh then down and painted in bright colors, with holes punched in the sides and a cable strung through to connect them. Three photos here show a close-up, a single barrel, … Read More