Located on a small island off the Greenland coast, 600 km (372 miles) north of the Arctic Circle, Uummannaq is one of many Inuit communities in the North that are already experiencing the impacts of climate change. Not only is the massive Greenlandic ice sheet melting, sea ice is starting to disappear too.

 

"The sea ice in Uummannaq now melts two months earlier than it did only a few years ago and the whole year the ice is thinner than it used to be, so it's really dangerous to go out," said Maligiak, a 41-year-old Inuit fisherman.

 

Traditionally, fishers here worked on a dog sled on the sea ice in winter and by boat when the ice melted in the summer. But now, as the ice is melting earlier and becoming less stable, there is a period of several months in the spring when the ice is not strong enough to hold dog sleds but can also not be penetrated by small fishing boats. So fishermen like Maligiak simply can't go out to work.

 

Local politicians are also concerned about the impact on the people here. Ellen Christophersen grew up in Uummannaq and until recently, was one of Greenland's three representatives to the Danish Parliament. She said that climate change is no longer just an abstract issue for Greenlanders, yet there are few programs to help communities adapt.

 

Some small projects have been launched, but Christophersen said the world needs to pay more attention to what's happening here. "It would help people here to get financial support in order to develop other areas - especially if the fishermen and hunter would like to choose another way of life."

 

A recent study by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that by September of last year, sea-ice cover had retreated to its lowest levels since the beginning of satellite records.

 

As Maligiak gets into his fishing boat and prepares to set out for the day, he wonders how his community will be able to deal with this latest threat.