It is reported that global climate change has caused temperatures in the Arctic to rise faster than elsewhere on the planet, and the lifestyles of local residents have also been affected - Greenland 's "dog sled" culture is facing a crisis.
In the northern and eastern Greenland, dog sledding has been a tradition that people have adhered to for a long time, but now many local hunters and fishermen have abandoned this tradition, and the number of sled dogs in the country has also declined.
↑Sled dog
"Every season is different from before. The weather has become more windy and more unpredictable." said Carlerak, a fisherman who has been fishing since the age of 14. "Since 2001, I have noticed that the ice in the Disco Bay (West Coast of Greenland) has decreased year by year." In the winter, he used to travel on ice with dog sleds, but the sea is no longer as frozen as before. In an interview, Carlerak said that due to the unpredictable climate change, dog sleds have become more dangerous. Since two years ago, he has stopped pulling sleds through dogs, but instead fishing by boat. Fleming, the owner of a dog sled tourism company, said that about 20 years ago, there were about 5,000 dogs in Ilulisat (a coastal town in the west of Greenland ), and now there are only about 1,800. Fleming's wife Anne said that the sled dog accompanied her entire growth process, "I don't want to see (dogs) disappear from our culture."
For many years, Fleming and his wife have witnessed the disappearance of nearby glaciers. Fleming pointed to a map of the Jacob Port Glacier and said, "These ice is gone now." It is reportedly an outlet of the Greenland Ice Sheet , with more than 35,000 cubic meters of ice swelling from the glacier every year, and more icebergs are sprayed into Disco Bay than anywhere in the northern hemisphere.
Avanata Mayor Paler Jeremison said that near Tule further north, sea ice retreating is affecting local hunters. These hunters used to be used to doing some long-distance hunting, but due to climate change, they had to change their lifestyle.
↑ Locals use boat fishing instead, but climate change has also brought certain benefits. To some extent, life in the Arctic has become easier. The relatively mild winter brings new opportunities, and Ilulisat is thriving - the nutrients of glacier meltwater make marine life more abundant, and can now fish by boat all year round; halibut can also be sold at higher prices, and fishermen like Kalerak are now better off.
Nevertheless, the climate change situation remains grim. "In the late 1990s, it was in equilibrium; today, it is a loss-making system—the snowfall cannot keep up with the speed of ice sheet melting and iceberg impacts. There are very, very sudden changes here," said Alan Hubbard, a glacologist at the Norwegian Arctic University.
Red Star News Reporter Wang Yalin Intern Duan Yuqi
Editor Guan Li Zhang Li
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