Day trip to Eqi Sermia Glacier in Greenland

July 2nd 2011

Boat tour to the Eqi Sermia glacier to admire the beautiful wall of ice, which is several kilometers wide and up to 60 meters high. Unfortunately this glacier is feeling the negative and well known effects of the global warming and the comparison with some photos taken just 10 years earlier, shows the phenomenon of glacier retreat in all its drama.

Early in the morning we board a small wooden boat for the Eqi glacier day trip, which is about two hours of navigation from Ataa in northern Greenland. We sail along a fjord where there are some small icebergs.

Thanks to the calm sea, the navigation is very relaxing. In the distance we begin to see the glacier Eqi and another huge glacier that flows in the same bay.

The face of the glacier is about 5 km wide. In the distance, we can see the ice cap that covers the entire country, as well as some nunatak (mountains completely buried by the ice, from which only the mountain's peaks emerge)

As we approach the front of the Eqi Sermia glacier, the pack ice becomes thicker and thicker, until it covers almost completely the entire surface of the Arctic Ocean. The boat, made entirely of wood, can negotiate such ice quite easily and safely, thanks also to our very experienced capitain.

The pack ice that covers the Arctic Ocean in this part of Greenland, is formed by large slabs of ice and small icebergs.

Unlike many adults who may have many prejudices about a trip to Greenland, this destination may be very interesting and funny for children, fascinated by the midnight sun and the incredible amount of ice.

Eqi glacier photo in Greenland. Thanks to the skill of the captain we reach the front of the Eqi Sermia glacier, where in complete silence broken only by the blocks of ice falling in the sea, we eat a tasty lunch. The Eqi Sermia glacier is about 5 km wide and up to 50 meters tall in some places.

The closer we get and the more we realize the grandeur of the Eqi glacier, one of the most easily accessible glaciers in Greenland. The ice has many shades of blue, created by the time and by the enormous pressure involved.

The effects of global warming on glaciers are particularly evident in Greenland and thus on the Eqi glacier also. The phenomenon of melting ice and glacier retreat due to greenhouse effect, is documented in these pictures taken by me personally in years 2001 and 2011, at a distance of only 10 years. As seen from Google Earth aerial photo, the glacier has retreated by more than one kilometer, for a total of several million cubic meters of ice completely disappeared.

Two other photographs showing the phenomenon of melting ice and glacier retreat caused by global warming and greenhouse effect. The left photo was taken in July of 2011, while the photo on the right dates back to August 2001. You can clearly see the huge portion of glacier melted away.