Iceberg massive on a village in Greenland

The photographs are staggering: a giant mountain of ice towers above a small village, with colorful houses reminiscent of small dollhouses against the bluish gray landscape.

But for people who live in these homes

"It's a bit like living in the suburbs, and you woke up one morning and you looked out, and there was a guitar -ciel next to your house, "says David Holland, an oceanographer. New York University doing research in Greenland during the summer months. "I'll be the first to get out of there."

He says that it is the reason why the authorities took measures to evacuate the inhabitants of the village of Innaarsuit, where the iceberg was parked just off the coast. According to the BBC, the village has only 169 inhabitants

"In these shallow bays, these icebergs can drift and get stuck, anchored on the seabed," says Holland. "That's what happened to one of these icebergs."

Holland says that this can be very disturbing for residents.

"These are small villages with small houses on the shoreline and suddenly icebergs and they look like New York skyscrapers, they are just dominating," he says. "They are very unstable and can break."

Last year, in northwestern Greenland, four people died when a landslide caused a tsunami that flooded a number of homes. The glaciologist Anna Hogg of the University of Leeds, who is also doing research in Greenland, says that the disaster is fresh in the minds of people.

"There is a risk that a large piece of ice could break this very big iceberg." We know that icebergs are pretty fragile things, they have a lot of fractures through them, "he adds. An amazing thing about many seaside communities in Greenland, says Hogg, is that despite the maritime economy, most people can not swim in. Hogg spent a lot of time doing research near the village currently threatened by the iceberg, adding that this adds to the risk of a tidal wave or flood.

"There is only one pool in Greenland. which is much further down the coast than this village we are talking about, "says Hogg. "If you think about it, why would they be able to swim? The water in the ocean is so cold, you can not even get your feet in it without it being unbearably icy."

Local authorities and the media are watching over the iceberg: the Sermitsiaq newspaper reports today that it has moved from 500 to 600 meters during the night.

Although the process of glacial glaciation is natural and occurs every summer, the waters around Greenland have warmed in recent decades. that it happens at a faster pace.

Copyright NPR 2018.