"We catch fewer and fewer because of global warming, especially in the past two or three years. The ice pack cracks even in winter so the hunters can't use their dogsleds and they have a hard time making a living," this 51-year-old from the tiny island of Kulusuk in southeastern Greenland says.

Koitse's remarks come as 25 environment ministers from around the world meet this week on the other side of Greenland, in the town of Ilulissat, to discuss the effects of global warming on the Arctic's sensitive ecology.

A recent Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report showed that the region has been heating up twice as fast as the rest of the world in the past decade.

It warned that within 100 years the Arctic ice could melt completely during the summer, threatening many species and the lifestyle of the indigenous Inuit population.

Here in Kulusuk, a hunting village dotted with colourful houses and home to 300 people, this summer has been hotter than usual.

"The temperature reached 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit) for several days. It's unbelievable," Koitse says.

Like his father, he was a hunter for 30 years, using his kayak and dogsled to get around.

But now he has put that life behind him, saying he can't imagine "continuing to hunt the seals and polar bears that are becoming increasingly rare" as the ice shrinks and changes their natural habitat.

Instead, Koitse has joined a dance troupe in his village, made up of other former hunters who entertain tourists.

Greenland, a massive ice-capped island the size of Britain, France and Italy combined, is isolated by ice packs for a large part of the year, with ships only able to deliver supplies between May and October.

One elderly resident, known only by his first name Jonathan, recalls that in the 1970s and 1980s "winter arrived in October and the ice froze, and with that came the seals, walrus and polar bears."

"Today, the ice coming from the north arrives later and later, in December, sometimes in January. Now you can almost sail the waters the whole year," he says.

Polar bears roam large expanses of ice to hunt their prey, breaking through the ice with their massive paws to catch seals and fish.

"We used to see the polar bears, we used to hunt them. But they don't migrate any more because of the disappearing ice. Even further north, there are fewer and fewer polar bears and the hunters there have been forced to kill their own sleddogs this year because they were unable to feed them," he says.

Environmental organisation Greenpeace, which sent a scientific expedition aboard the icebreaker Arctic Sunrise to Greenland's east coast in July, said it had made some "worrying" observations.

One of Greenland's biggest glaciers, Kangerdlussuhaq, is travelling at a speed of 14 kilometers (nine miles) a year, three times faster than the five kilometers (three miles) observed in 1988. That makes it the fastest moving glacier in the world.

"We have to do something to stop this warming. The rich countries, especially the United States, and the developing countries have to reduce their pollution because we in the Arctic are the main victims," says 41-year-old former hunter Moses Bajare.

This father of two, the son of a hunter, "decided a long time ago to work at the Kulusuk airport".

"I still hunt by tradition and because I have it in my blood, and to bring in a little extra money," he says.

"I kill about 30 seals a year to feed my family and seven dogs, and to sell the pelts. But times are changing. You notice it, because we used to catch a lot more animals," he says.

Outside his house a 4x4 jeep is parked in the driveway for outings in the mountains.

"And I bought a new boat, almost seven meters (23 feet) long with a powerful engine so I can take my family on long trips," he adds.

Bajare acknowledges that he is "a little privileged", and admits that if he had stayed a hunter, he "would not have been able to make a living" off the traditional, 1,000-year-old way of life now threatened with extinction by global warming.

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