Greenland dog sled champion faces first snowless January

Yesterday 11:20

By: Dakir Madiha

Greenland dog sled champion faces first snowless January

In the Arctic town of Ilulissat, about 300 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, five time Greenland dog sled champion Jørgen Kristensen is witnessing something he says he has never seen before: a January without snow or sea ice in the bay.

Instead of gliding over frozen ground, Kristensen’s sled now jolts across bare earth and exposed rocks. Temperatures that were once reliably below freezing are increasingly rising above zero, at times reaching 10 degrees Celsius, conditions that make traditional dog sledding nearly impossible. For more than a thousand years, sled dogs have been central to the lives of Inuit hunters and fishers navigating the Arctic. That way of life is now under strain.

“If we lose dog sledding, we lose large parts of our culture. That frightens me,” Kristensen told the Associated Press, speaking with visible emotion.

The impact extends beyond one musher’s experience. Greenland’s sled dog population has fallen sharply over the past two decades, dropping from around 25,000 animals in 2002 to an estimated 13,000 to 15,000 today, according to researchers at the University of Greenland.

Sea ice that once served as vast natural bridges connecting Greenlanders to hunting grounds and neighboring Inuit communities across the Arctic has become unreliable. Kristensen described traveling by dog sled over frozen expanses as limitless, like driving on the longest and widest highway in the world. Losing that access represents a profound shift for communities that have depended on it for generations.

In previous years, the Greenlandic government has provided financial assistance to families in the far north when sea ice failed to freeze sufficiently to support hunting, said Sara Olsvig, chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council.

Scientists say the Arctic is warming three to four times faster than the global average, intensifying the effects of climate change across the region. Rising temperatures are melting permafrost, destabilizing buildings and forcing adaptations that challenge centuries old traditions.

Kristensen now collects and carries snow to provide water for his dogs during journeys because it is no longer available along traditional routes. Some Greenlanders have suggested that future generations may need to design dog sleds fitted with wheels.

The warming trend has also introduced new dangers for those who have shifted from sleds to boats. Increased rainfall instead of snowfall creates glass like ice that blends with the sea, making it nearly invisible and hazardous for navigation, said Morgan Angaju Josefsen Røjkjær, Kristensen’s associate.

“Climate change affects us deeply,” Olsvig said.