Drone Footage Of Greenland's Melting Ice Sheet Is Stunning, Terrifying

Climate change is one of the biggest problems facing humanity, but it's not always the easiest to visualize. A dreadfully skinny polar bear is a powerful symbol that might shock you in the moment, though it's hard to understand what it might say about our changing planet overall.

The New York Times on Tuesday presented an innovative new approach: Footage shot via drone that shows the melting Greenland ice sheet.

"During the flight, I was mesmerized as I watched the live video from the camera on a tablet attached to my controller. I thought: This is what birds must feel as they fly up Alpine streams, skimming the surface of the water," Josh Haner, a Pulitzer-winning photographer for the Times, wrote in an article about the process.

Some of the footage was injected into an impressive interactive feature published online Tuesday. Scroll through and you'll experience startling footage of "one of the biggest and fastest-melting chunks of ice on Earth."

So there you go: For every horrible story you hear about drones being annoying pests, remember that there are upsides, too.