Climate change and the village at the end of the world

Ittoqqortoormiit lies picturesque against the ice-covered mountains on the coast of Greenland. It is a village of just 350 inhabitants in Scoresby Sound, the largest fjord system in the world.

The construction and colors of the houses here are reminiscent of their Scandinavian heritage: It was only 70 years ago that Greenland stopped being a Danish colony. Today Greenland, the world's largest island — located between the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean — is a largely autonomous part of Denmark.

Ittoqqortoormiit is an Inuit settlement. The inhabitants make their living by hunting seals, musk oxen, narwhals and polar bears. Still, many of the hunters now prefer to ride quad bikes rather than driving the traditional dog teams.

But modern times are also making life difficult for the inhabitants of Ittoqqortoormiit. Not only are cruise ships bringing more and more tourists to the fjords and scaring away the wildlife, but scientists are also warning that the meat of these animals is dangerously contaminated by chemicals from factories elsewhere.

Then there is global warming too. It has always been a normal sight to see animal skins drying here. In the past, when snow cut inhabitants off from the rest of the world for 11 months a year, they would live off wild animals. But those old certainties are melting away with the glaciers. In the Arctic, temperatures are rising four times faster than elsewhere.

Olivier Morin, photographer for the AFP news agency, captured life in Ittoqqortoormiit in the last days of summer 2023, when young and old make the most of the few weeks when the sun still rises above the Arctic Circle.

Jumping into this pool would be a real challenge for most people. Even in July, temperatures rarely rise above 10 degrees Celsius. And the melted glacier water is not heated.

In a place where no grass grows, the only green spot is the artificial turf on the soccer pitch. Young people meet here to play football but with no floodlights, matches must take place around midday most of the year.

The population of Ittoqqortoormiit has shrunk from around 500 people just a few years ago. People who were once hunters, like their forefathers, now struggle to find alternative work. This remote village is on the very front line of climate change.