ESA’s CryoSat team working on the Greenland ice sheet has been honoured with a visit from a Dutch delegation including HRH Prince of Orange. The visit is part of a tour to learn more about climate change in polar regions and consequences for the environment. Prince Willem-Alexander’s visit to Greenland was at the invitation of the World Wide Fund for Nature-Netherlands. The delegation included Johan van de Gronden, CEO of WWF-NL, Robbert Dijkgraaf, President of the Royal Dutch Academy of Science, Erik Oostwegel, Chairman of the Board of Management of Royal Haskoning, and Dutch scientists involved in polar climate research.
The six-day tour offered the delegation the opportunity to experience the Arctic and learn more from scientists out in the field.
As part of the CryoSat mission, scientists are currently out on the Greenland ice cap making detailed measurements of snow and ice properties required to validate data from the satellite.
This provided an ideal chance for the delegation to learn first hand about how ESA’s ice mission will provide key answers to questions such as how fast the Greenland ice cap is melting and how this will contribute to global sea-level rise.
As much of the Netherlands lies below sea level, there is a vested interest in understanding exactly what is happening to polar ice, in particular that lying on land. Read More
