Danish researchers potentially exposed the ongoing effects of climate change, after snapping a startling photo as their team were travelling over melted sea ice sheet to retrieve weather equipment.
In the image, shot by Steffen M. Olsen from the Centre of Ocean and Ice at the Danish Meteorological Institute, the team鈥檚 sled dogs appear to be running on water.
The climate researcher was part of the institute鈥檚 team that was making its way across a partially melted fjord -- a narrow inlet with steep sides created by a glacier 鈥� in a journey made more hazardous by the rapidly melting sea ice.
In a tweet, Olsen said he snapped the photo on , as the sled dogs were traversing the Inglefield Bredning fjord in northwest Greenland.
The team was retrieving oceanographic moorings and weather station equipment, according to a from Olsen鈥檚 institute colleague Rasmus Tonboe.
鈥淩apid melt and sea ice with low permeability and few cracks leaves the melt water on top,鈥� he explained online.
Besides calling it a 鈥渂eautiful picture,鈥� DMI climate scientist Ruth Mottram told CTV News Channel the 鈥渆arly onset of melting 鈥� is interesting because it communicates something about the changes that we鈥檙e seeing in the wider Arctic over the last few years.鈥�
Greenland鈥檚 ice sheet melting season doesn鈥檛 typically start until late June or early July. On the day after the photo was taken, more than 40 per cent of Iceland experienced melting, with the total ice loss estimated to be around 2 billion tons.
, Olsen also estimated that the ice was only 1.2 metres thick, which was disconcerting because he believed there was roughly a depth of 870 metres of water below the thin ice.
鈥淭ogether with the local hunters, we have been measuring also ice thickness from December to now. An ongoing activity for almost a decade now,鈥� he further explained.
Because of the hunters鈥� experience, Olsen said that he and his team weren鈥檛 scared they鈥檇 fall into a hidden crevasse.
鈥淭hese local hunters and their dogs are really experienced, daily life in the high arctic. We rely on traditional knowledge in the field though of course insisting on analyzing available satellite scenes in the joint planning,鈥� he wrote.
In the past 12 hours, Olsen they were able to recover the remaining instruments and that they鈥檒l be 鈥渉eading home in the coming days.鈥�
The incident is not necessarily shocking to climate scientists, who noted there was in the Arctic Ocean and Greenland as temperatures rose 4 degrees Celsius during the month compared to average temperatures in June.
Around the time the photo was taken, the Danish Meteorological Institute鈥檚 weather station near the country鈥檚 Qaanaaq airport also registered a high of 17.3 Celsius and 15 Celsius, last Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
Both of these recordings were high for northern Greenland, even for the summertime.
Mottram explained how teams like theirs have seen increasing amounts of melting from the country鈥檚 ice sheet.
She said they saw similar early, rapid ice melts in 2012. 鈥淲e definitely think it鈥檚 something that鈥檚 going to be happening more in the future, and that鈥檚 in line with our climate projections,鈥� Mottram said.
Mottram said the incident captured in the photo is 鈥渄efinitely a symbol of the changes that are going on globally.鈥�
Since the image has gone viral, the attention from news outlets has caught Olsen off-guard, with him he 鈥榮 been 鈥渟lightly overwhelmed by the interest.鈥�
He added that, while the photos showcased an 鈥渦nusual day,鈥� the image was 鈥渕ore symbolic than scientific to many.鈥�
Mottram added greenhouse gas emissions from human activity are linked to what the photo captures. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very clear that these kind of changes are very strongly related to global temperature and the more (it) goes up, the more extreme events we鈥檙e going to see,鈥� she said.
