During construction of the ceremonial fire pit for the 2008 second circumpolar meeting of Inuits from the Arctic Circle, an Inuit elder spoke about the accelerating changes in climate that are changing life on Greenland. If all the ice there melts London
Cien Fuegos recorded Ithluk's words
WITNESS TO THE MELTING OF THE GREENLAND ICE
This message was collected by Cien Fuegos in July, 2007, in the Valley of the Ancients on Greenland.
For two weeks a small group of five constructed the ceremonial fire pit for the 2008 second circumpolar meeting. Inuits from Canada, Greenland, Siberia and Alaska, who live along the Arctic Circle, will gather again to consult on how to alert the world to the enormous changes in climate that they are experiencing already '“ changes that are forcing them now to fundamentally alter their lives. The accelerating melt of the Greenland ice cap may eventually lead to sea level rises around the world up to 7 meters or 21 feet, drowning the cities of London and New York.
The Inuit elders, who had chosen the ceremonial site, were joined by two North Americans and one Canadian. They pitched their tents on the tundra below towering rock mountains and the glacier behind. In the distance a river, swollen by the accelerating melt, discharged mud and boulders into the ocean. Lakes of melt-water are forming on the top of the ice cap and that water has found its way to the bottom, causing the glaciers to slide faster and swelling the rivers.
After five days the group got weathered in for 24 hours in fierce cold and driving rain. Cien Fuegos, the North American, invited Ithluk to tell her about Greenland and how the Inuit were experiencing the change of the climate.
