One important research centre has been designed as a nodal point for glaciologists. It is built 150 miles inside the Arctic Circle. It is one spot from where you can observe the "real-time impact of climate change."
If you travel to the western coast of Greenland, you can view the Illulissat Icefjord that is known for its beautiful natural features as well as human habitation. This is the region from where its continental ice sheet slopes down naturally into the sea. It enables scientists to approach glacial ice that's over 250,000 years old. This is why it's known as climate change "ground zero." People have been coming here to examine the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier for 250 years.
One outpost for scientific work, which will also work as an "interpretive center" to help visitors become aware of it, is the Icefjord Centre. The design for this has been made by Danish architects at Dorte Mandrup. It is a wooden structure that keeps a "low profile on the landscape while offering panoramic vistas from the rooftop," according to gizmodo. In fact, "Greenland is building the perfect place to watch the world end," is the worrying warning.
This is the watering pool for "local residents, businesses, climate researchers, climate debaters and global tourists," explains the centre. "The Icefjord area carries 4,000 years of cultural heritage and is essential for the understanding of climate changes. The Icefjord Centre will tell the story of ice, of human history and evolution in both a local and global sense."
The plans are to open the Icefjord Centre in 2020. However, it is doubtful whether there will be any ice left in Greenland at that time! Greenland underwent an early spring thaw this year, melting a large part of the ice sheet in the north. Scientists mention that the ice sheets may vanish by 2100, and it would be the last area where you will be able to view glaciers.
