Signs of global warming were visible all over the Arctic this winter, from hungry polar bears stalking children to sea ice breaking up months earlier than normal. Inuit residents of villages near the Arctic circle say they can no longer read the weather in the sky, because of what scientists say are changing sky patterns caused by layers of warm air.

The Washington Post reported in a front-page story today on a "historic reshaping" of the Arctic world. According to the paper, Inuit villagers in northern Russia have had to drill wells for water because there is not enough snow to melt. And villages in northern Alaska are seeing temperatures near 50 degrees instead of the normal range in the minus 20s.

This warming Arctic climate is causing changes to ecosystems, sending animals from warmer climates north and threatening the survival of northern creatures, like polar bears and walruses, that need ice to hunt.

It's also threatening the traditions and livelihood of the Inuit, who see their world being turned upside down. One Inuit hunter in Canada told the Post, "The world is slowly disintegrating."

Image credit: NASA