Arctic explorer from Minnesota documents climate change effects in Greenland
The Moorhead Public Library gets a taste of Greenland thanks to a special visit from an arctic explorer.
MOORHEAD, Minn. (KVRR) — Lonnie Dupre, a Minnesota mountaineer and polar explorer, shares his most recent visit to Greenland to document the effects on climate change.
It’s been 20 years since Dupre and John Hoelscher completed the first and only circumnavigation of Greenland.
A 6,500-mile journey featuring kayaks, polar bears and mountains, all non-motorized with a dog team over frozen fjords to Inuit villages and hunting grounds. They did it again in 2022.
Dupre is on a tour across Minnesota to talk about his adventures and preview a documentary about exploring Greenland.
“The most eye-opening thing I’ve seen was, I was deep into a frozen fjord in northwest Greenland 20 years ago. The ice was seven feet thick and I was there again this time, 20 years later. Same time of year, same fjord, the ice is only 18 inches thick. Big difference. Big difference. So, we’re worried a little bit about our lakes not forming ice, so it’d be tough to go ice fishing. They’re really worried about it because they need the ice up there to travel back and forth from one village to the next,” said Dupre.
