US Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to Ilulissat, Greenland on June 17 to meet with Greenlandic and Danish officials and discuss shared challenges in the Arctic.
During the visit, Secretary Kerry saw first-hand the effects of climate change. Professor Søren Rysgaard, Aarhus University, University of Manitoba and Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, and politicians accompanied Kerry on a tour of Ilulissat icefjord where signs of glacial retreat are obvious.
The Ilulissat visit astonished John Kerry: “This is a gigantic transformation taking place. You can see it with the naked eye,” he said.
John Kerry discussed shared challenges in the Arctic with Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kristian Jensen, Greenlandic Prime Minister, Kim Kielsen and Greenlandic Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vittus Qujaukitsoq in Ilulissat 17 June.
“John Kerry is one of the most influential persons in the world. I’m very pleased that he actually takes climate change seriously, and brings the message back home”, says Søren Rysgaard, who has been in the forefront of Arctic research for the past 20 years and has an enormous insight in climate changes in the Arctic.
sources: U.S. State Department, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources