Shorter winters cast doubts over dog sledding

KULUSUK, Denmark - Tethered between pastel-colored wooden houses in the Greenlandic village of Kulusuk and on hills nearby, the island's famous sled dogs wait through the summer for the ice to form so their hunting season can begin.

Greenlanders prize the dogs for their endurance, using them to pull their sleds to hunt seals, whales and polar bears in the winter months when temperatures can drop to minus 35 C.

But as the ice that covers 85 percent of Greenland melts and its winters grow unpredictable, climate change is casting a shadow over the much-loved tradition in Denmark's autonomous territory.