Green Fjord
© Blake Matthews

Greenlandic Fjord ecosystems in a changing climate: Socio-cultural and environmental interactions

About Us

Southern Greenlandic fjord systems are emblematic landscapes at the heart of the socio-economic and cultural environments of local communities.

Accelerated climate change impacts southern Greenland fjord ecosystems and livelihoods profoundly on land and in the ocean. Fjords are particularly vulnerable because they lie at the nexus between the cryosphere, ocean, land, atmosphere and biosphere.

Within GreenFjord, we will explore the socio-cultural and environmental interactions by focusing our research on two different fjord systems: a marine and a terrestrial terminating glacier. Our efforts are organized around six clusters: cryosphere, land, ocean, atmosphere, biodiversity and human.

Research Cluster

Our efforts are organized around these 6 clusters:
© Ethan Welty, www.weltyphotography.com
Lichen and Moss Covered Rock in Greenland
© Blake Matthews
© Ethan Welty, www.weltyphotography.com
© Ethan Welty, www.weltyphotography.com
greenland
© Blake Matthews
© Blake Matthews
© Ethan Welty, www.weltyphotography.com
© Ethan Welty, www.weltyphotography.com
lake
© Blake Matthews
sunset-in-greenland
© Blake Matthews
© Ethan Welty, www.weltyphotography.com
© Ethan Welty, www.weltyphotography.com
Sheep being hearded onto a boat in Greenland
© Blake Matthews
© Ethan Welty, www.weltyphotography.com
© Ethan Welty, www.weltyphotography.com
© Ethan Welty, www.weltyphotography.com
© Ethan Welty, www.weltyphotography.com
© Ethan Welty, www.weltyphotography.com
About Green Fjord

About Green Fjord

Accelerated climate change impacts southern Greenland fjord ecosystems and livelihoods profoundly as a result of atmospheric warming, changing vegetation and precipitation patterns, as well as enhanced glacier melt. Increased meltwater fluxes also affect marine ecosystem functioning and nutrient circulation, which in turn affect the marine food-web with cascading effects on biodiversity. 

About Green Fjord

News About Greenfjord

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GreenFjord annual meeting
30. November, 2022

GreenFjord annual meeting

The first annual assembly of GreenFjord has taken place on 28 and 29 November 2022 in Sion. In-person and online, first results of the six research cluster’s activities during the 2022…

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Let’s Talk: polar research and our struggling planet
27. October, 2022

Let’s Talk: polar research and our struggling planet

Great interview with the PI of GreenFjord, Julia Schmale, and the co-PI of the second SPI Flagship Initiative PAMIR, Francesca Pellicciotti, on Swissinfo.ch: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/let-s-talk–polar-research-and-our-struggling-planet/48004934

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First field campain to Narsarsuaq and Narsaq
27. August, 2022

First field campain to Narsarsuaq and Narsaq

Getting to Greenland is not always easy. After not being able to land at Narsarsuaq at the first attempt, members of the biodiversity, land, human and atmosphere clusters had to return…

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