Where do we go when the seas rise? - BBC World Service

and tractors. This is the end of the road and I can see sheep so I think we might be on the right track. Hello, are you Elena? Hello, I'm Marnie. Pleased to meet you. This is a place that gets so cold in winter that the sheep have to stay in the barn. So I think a warmer climate might make things easier for Ellen and her husband Carl. From time to time you will hear her translating for him. He said that

when

the climate started to change the drought started to hit, so all the grass almost died because it didn't rain and it was in early 2006 that the drought started to hit here in the summer.

For example, it didn't rain in three months. In a place like this there is water every

where

: melting on the ice sheet in the distance, peeking through the clouds, passing like icebergs in the fjord, but there has actually been a drought here in recent years, which means that Farmers like Ellen and Carl have to import hay for their sheep from Denmark. Sometimes they also have to bring water from the village for their house and stable. In this place

where

the Norse settled 1,000 years ago, things are uncertain now. And here there is also another challenge. The fjord used to freeze over, but now, after 2006, the climate has completely changed.

These years there have been so many hot winds, storms with increasingly extreme speeds that completely broke up the new ice in autumn. I came here in 1984 and the fjord used to freeze so we can use it, for example we can go to Narsarsuaq by snowmobile, ATV or car if the ice is safe enough. Then we could go to Igaliku, the next settlement, and it is easier to get around, but now it is more difficult because in winter it is difficult to use our speed boats to get around and the ice is not safe enough to walk or drive, so sometimes We just can't get anywhere in winter.

The ice no longer serves as a winter road for locals. So what today's trip around the

world

shows is that no place is perfect. The climate will change everywhere in some way, and climate change will affect everyone, but as the climate scientists we spoke to told us, anything we can reduce the greenhouse gases we're emitting today means less ice melting. and long-term sea level

rise

. International and national policies, like those being discussed at the annual UN climate conference in Egypt right now, will help determine what our

world

will look like in the future. As Ruth Mottram told us last week: I think the biggest uncertainty is actually the burning of fossil fuels and carbon dioxide emissions, so the faster you can reduce the use of fossil fuels and all the other things that contribute to climate change, the lower the sea will

rise

and that's about a meter in some high-level scenarios.

In some of the low-end scenarios, it could be as small as half a meter. And a difference of half a meter could mean many homes and many lives would be saved. If you missed the show last week about how fast the ice is melting, you can find previous episodes of CrowdScience on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts and while you're there, why not? Check out The Climate Question, a podcast about finding the best. ways to respond to climate change. Now there is only one thing left to do for this program. Johan asks you for the credits.

That's all for this edition of CrowdScience. Today's question was asked by me, Johan from Denmark. If you have any questions about climate change, the future of humanity or anything else to do with science, please contact the CrowdScience team at [email protected]. This episode was produced by Sam Baker and hosted by Marnie Chesterton. Thank you for your time.