Thu, 25 Jun 2026 22:55:41 +1000
Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/23/scientists-alarmed-wildfires-greenland>
"Scientists have expressed concern after two wildfires broke out within a week
of each other on the Arctic island of Greenland earlier this month.
Fires were burning close to Sisimiut, Greenland’s second largest town and a
popular tourism centre, on 14 and 15 June, satellite imagery has shown, while a
second blaze hit Kujalleq, on the island’s southern tip, on 17 June.
While most of Greenland, a largely autonomous territory, is covered in vast ice
sheets and thick glaciers, a significant part is ice-free and covered in
tundra. Wildfires in these areas are rare, but becoming more common.
For two fires to break out this early in the summer, however, is particularly
unusual. “Vegetation fires at high northern latitudes are more usual in July
and August,” said Dr Mark Parrington, a senior scientist at Copernicus
Atmosphere Monitoring Service.
Sonja Diaz, a scientist at the Environmental Change Research Unit of the
University of Helsinki, who conducted field research in Greenland after a major
wildfire in 2019, said the timing was not unheard of but that it felt “quite
wild” to see the island burning so early in the year.
“Wet [conditions] and snow do not favour fire ignition and spread,” she said.
“The conditions need to be warm and dry enough.”
Inunnguaq Eigil Lundblad, the emergency manager for Qeqqata municipality, which
includes Sisimiut, said the fires there had broken out after “someone used fire
recklessly. We had not had much snow this winter and then very little rainfall,
which is why we have very dry soil.”
Miki Sikemsen, the emergency manager for Kujalleq municipality, said the
immediate trigger for the fire there was not yet known, but added: “Weather
conditions in the area have been unusually dry this year and we have not
experienced any significant rainfall since May, which has left the vegetation
very dry and highly flammable.”
The anthropologist Pelle Tejsner, an associate professor at the University of
Greenland, said the dryness of the soil meant “more fires could be expected”.
A study of fires in ice-free regions of western Greenland did not detect any
blazes from 1995 to 2007. It then recorded 21 separate events between 2008 and
2020, with major fires in 2017 and 2019."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
"Scientists have expressed concern after two wildfires broke out within a week
of each other on the Arctic island of Greenland earlier this month.
Fires were burning close to Sisimiut, Greenland’s second largest town and a
popular tourism centre, on 14 and 15 June, satellite imagery has shown, while a
second blaze hit Kujalleq, on the island’s southern tip, on 17 June.
While most of Greenland, a largely autonomous territory, is covered in vast ice
sheets and thick glaciers, a significant part is ice-free and covered in
tundra. Wildfires in these areas are rare, but becoming more common.
For two fires to break out this early in the summer, however, is particularly
unusual. “Vegetation fires at high northern latitudes are more usual in July
and August,” said Dr Mark Parrington, a senior scientist at Copernicus
Atmosphere Monitoring Service.
Sonja Diaz, a scientist at the Environmental Change Research Unit of the
University of Helsinki, who conducted field research in Greenland after a major
wildfire in 2019, said the timing was not unheard of but that it felt “quite
wild” to see the island burning so early in the year.
“Wet [conditions] and snow do not favour fire ignition and spread,” she said.
“The conditions need to be warm and dry enough.”
Inunnguaq Eigil Lundblad, the emergency manager for Qeqqata municipality, which
includes Sisimiut, said the fires there had broken out after “someone used fire
recklessly. We had not had much snow this winter and then very little rainfall,
which is why we have very dry soil.”
Miki Sikemsen, the emergency manager for Kujalleq municipality, said the
immediate trigger for the fire there was not yet known, but added: “Weather
conditions in the area have been unusually dry this year and we have not
experienced any significant rainfall since May, which has left the vegetation
very dry and highly flammable.”
The anthropologist Pelle Tejsner, an associate professor at the University of
Greenland, said the dryness of the soil meant “more fires could be expected”.
A study of fires in ice-free regions of western Greenland did not detect any
blazes from 1995 to 2007. It then recorded 21 separate events between 2008 and
2020, with major fires in 2017 and 2019."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
