2 Ice Everywhere

Chapter 2 ICE EVERYWHERE Sunlight shone through the tree house window. The sound of splashing water came from outside. "Hey, it doesn't feel that cold," said Annie. "Maybe because we're wearing these heavy woolen clothes," said Jack. Their summer clothes had changed into wool outfits. Now they had on thick wool coats, wool shirts, wool caps, wool mittens, and wool pants. Even Jack's backpack had changed into a wool bag. His notebook and pencil were inside. "You were right," said Annie, looking out the window. "I don't see much green here." Jack looked out with her. The tree house

had landed on the rocky shore of an ocean bay. Across the water were brown mountains with snow-white peaks. The air felt crisp and clean. Seagulls swooped low over sparkling blue seawater. The sun shined on sheets of ice. "Ready to explore?" said Annie. "Yep," said Jack. Jack slipped their map back inside the Greenland book. He put the book and

Morgan's rhyme in the wool bag. Then he and Annie climbed out the window. They stepped onto a pebbly shore. "Oh, man, ice everywhere," said Jack. The ocean bay was filled with ice. Small flat icebergs were floating in the middle of the bay. Others were close to shore. "The water must be freezing," said Annie. Jack took off a glove and dipped his hand into the seawater. "Ow!" he yelped. "It's so cold, it hurts!" Jack dried his hand and put his glove back on. Then he took out the Greenland book. He read aloud from the first page: For millions of years, Greenland has been mostly covered with ice. In the twenty-first century, experts worry that the world's climate is warming and the ice is melting. Scientists from different countries live at research stations in

Greenland to study the effects of climate change. "Now I remember what my teacher told us," said Jack. "Melting ice in the Arctic can cause sea levels to rise and lead to disaster." "That's serious," said Annie. "I hope we meet some scientists." "Me too," said Jack. "I wonder who else lives here." He found a section in the book called "People of Greenland." He read: Experts believe that people first occupied Greenland about 4,500 years ago. Today 56,000 people live on the island. Most of them are known as the Inuit "Inuit!" said Annie. "Like the Inuit seal hunter we met on our other Arctic trip! He was great." "Yeah, but I don't see any signs of Inuit people in this area," said Jack. He looked

around at the cold, barren landscape. "It feels pretty lonely." "Wait, look at that!" said Annie. She pointed to a group of small silver-gray creatures resting on an iceberg. "I think those are seals?" said Jack. "They're so little and cute," said Annie. Jack found a chapter on seals in the book. He read: Greenland has three kinds of ice seals. Ringed seals are the smallest. "Okay, they must be ringed seals!" said Jack. Suddenly the seals let out high-pitched barks. They spun their heads from side to

side. Then they slipped off the ice and disappeared into the water. "I think we scared them," said Jack. A swooshing sound came from across the bay. "Not us!" cried Annie. "A whale!" A huge gray whale was skimming across the water. A sharp burst of air spurted out the blowhole on top of its head. "Whoa!" said Jack. The whale leapt into the air. Then it crashed down with a giant splash. It dove under the sea. "A humpback! That was a humpback!" said Annie. "I saw the bump on its back. Humpback whales sing. They sing a different song every year!" "How do you know that?" said Jack. "I love whales! I wrote a report on them," said Annie. "Great," said Jack. He looked up whales in