Beautiful Photo of Sled Dogs Walking on Melted Ice Water in Greenland Alarms Scientists

• A photo featuring sled dogs walking on melted ice water recently went viral.
• A journalist said the image should “scare the hell out” of us all.
• Alaska and Greenland are experiencing record temperatures and early summer meltings.

The effect of global warming is everywhere but perhaps the more glaring evidence is where most of the world’s ice are. Recently, a photo of sled dogs leisurely trudging along melted Arctic ice waters in Greenland has gone viral.

Scientists say it’s depiction of the alarming effects of global warming. The photo was taken by Steffen Olsen, a researcher from the Centre for Ocean and Ice at the Danish Meteorological Institute.

It shows two teams of dogs pulling ice and snow sleds through ankle-deep waters, which melted from the ice sheet in Greenland’s Inglefield Bredning fjord.

Freelance writer Robin Hamilton commented on the photo:

“This is beautiful the way fiery balls of lava are beautiful: deadly.”

Olsen was part of an expedition team for retrieval of research equipment. However, they encountered way more than they expected.

@SteffenMalskaer got the difficult task of retrieving our oceanographic moorings and weather station on sea ice in North West Greenland this year. Rapid melt and sea ice with low permeability and few cracks leaves the melt water on top. pic.twitter.com/ytlBDTrVeD

— Rasmus Tonboe (@RasmusTonboe) June 14, 2019

According to a report from The Washington Post.

“Data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center show that the Greenland ice sheet appears to have witnessed its biggest melt event so early in the season on record this week (although a few other years showed similar mid-June melting),” the report said.

Journalist John Iadarola shared the photo via Twitter, complete with a quiet warning about the effect of climate change.

Greenland was FORTY degrees above normal.

This should scare the hell out of you.

This is not a problem for future generations. This isn't a problem twenty years in the future. Climate breakdown is happening NOW. https://t.co/fjQ93qCavR

— John Iadarola (@johniadarola) June 17, 2019

Recently, arctic regions are going through summer meltings that are way earlier than anticipated, in comparison to previous years.

Alaska and Greenland are experiencing record temperatures.

Environmental writer Andy Rowell, in his writing for Oil Change International, said that “Arctic scientists are speaking out with increasing alarm at what they are seeing, and as they keep repeating ‘what happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic.'”