Sled Dogs on Sea Ice

Steffen M. Olsen (Climate Researcher, Danish Meteorological Institute, ObsSea4Clim)

Sled dogs on sea ice in the middle of Inglefield Fjord in Greenland, June 13, 2019

Transported by dog sleds in Greenland, Steffen and colleagues were out on sea ice flooded by surface melt water. Together with the local hunters, they were out on fieldwork to measure ice thickness from December to June. This photo, snapped by Steffen, illustrates a natural phenomenon of annual ice melt. However, rapid melt and sea ice with low permeability and few cracks leaves the melt water on top. The ice is around 1.2 m thick at this point with about 870 m water below it. These days were characterized by extreme and early melting rates on Greenland. The temperatures in Qaanaaq on 13 June 2019 were less than half a degree from the record of 30 June 2012. Communities in Greenland rely on the sea ice for transport, hunting and fishing. Extreme events, such as the flooding of the ice by abrupt onset of surface melt, call for an increased predictive capacity and action to mitigate increased warming in the Arctic. This photo is more symbolic than scientific, but illustrates Arctic warming and in particular the expectation that weather will be more extreme in the future.