Digital tools and traditional storytelling combine to show stark impact of climate change in Greenland

By Emma Burrows, Evgeniy Maloletka and Kwiyeon Ha

By centering their reporting on a five-time Greenlandic dog-sledding champion, Emma Burrows, Evgeniy Maloletka and Kwiyeon Ha delivered a vivid, human-centered portrait of climate change’s impact — showing sled dogs pulling across mud and rock instead of snow and ice.

Originally in Greenland to report on President Donald Trump’s threats to control the island, the team shifted focus after two weeks in Nuuk to explore how warming temperatures are reshaping daily life in the Arctic. In Ilulissat, they found Jørgen Kristensen, who grew up with sled dogs and whose life’s work depends on stable winter conditions that are disappearing.

Despite unseasonably warm weather, the team endured freezing winds and long hours before dawn to capture drone footage, time-lapse videos of glaciers collapsing into the sea, and intimate moments with Kristensen and his wife, Sara, who invited them into their home for a traditional seal dinner. The reporting required resilience and ingenuity, including recovering a lost 360-degree camera and adapting to power cuts and weather delays.

The result was a visually striking, immersive package. A video explainer connected Greenland’s melting ice to rising global sea levels, and Will Jarrett built a custom presentation that led with the arresting image of dogs pulling a sled over dirt — a symbol of a culture adapting to a warming world.

Judges praised the project as a model for climate storytelling, blending a compelling protagonist with powerful visuals and strong digital presentation.

For exemplary storytelling that powerfully illustrated the effects of climate change, Emma Burrows, Evgeniy Maloletka and Kwiyeon Ha win this week’s Best of AP — First Winner.